Symphony of the Psychotic
by Shinigami-cat
Summary: It was just a simple case from the agency. Find the girl and bring her back alive. What started off as a simple search and rescue mission has turned into Arthur's personal hell. Set in Steam Punk London. Multiple pairings. Dark themes.
1. Prologue

**Shinigami-cat: **So here's something a little different. I hope you all like it… I OWN NOTHING!

**Summary:**

**It was just a simple case from the agency. Find the girl and bring her back alive. What started off as a simple search and rescue mission has turned into Arthur's personal hell. Set in Steam Punk London.**

**Warnings:**

**Mild horror and all manner of other things.**

**Symphony of the Psychotic**

**Prologue**

The walls gently brushed against his arms as he stayed lying in that one spot. He was awake. He couldn't sleep. With his eyes open all the could see was black. He attempted to flex his feet, only to find they were pressed against a wooden surface. He was trapped in some kind of box. Yet he wasn't afraid or scared in the slightest. It was like some kind of out of body experience. All he could hear through the darkness was the sound of an old grandfather clock, ticking away over and over again.

"Come now Arthur." Cut in a voice. "It's only a dream."

"It's not a dream…" Whispered Arthur. "It's… It's a memory… It's giving me a headache… I'm trapped."

"Disregard that memory." Said the voice. "Leave that place and go somewhere else. You're floating now… You're in a different place. Where are you now?"

Almost immediately the box in which he was trapped changed into a sea, a sea of cards, chess pieces and checker boards. The grandfather clock was gone and replaced by the sounds of men screaming, metal striking metal, the stench of smoke, fire. Through the midst of it all, there were three demons sitting on thrones as a fire surrounded them.

Arthur started to tremble uncontrollably. "No… I-I'm in hell!"

"Forget it." Said the vice calmly. "That place is unproductive. Go somewhere better somewhere safe… Go to your home." The reddening and glowing amber of the fire encircled Arthur's body. The sound and the smell of burning flesh and wood filled his ears and nostrils.

"I can't." Whispered Arthur. "My home… that place… everyone there is dead. It is dead to me… I'm trapped… Trapped in the past…" More sounds filled his ears, they sounded like people calling for help. Saying he was badly burnt. That he needed to go to a hospital. It made his heart race. He could see shadows for people, but they had the faces of animals. They were like wolves in sheep's clothing.

"No Arthur." Said the voice a little more sternly than before. "Forget those thoughts. Forget those memories. They prevent you from moving forward. Go someplace safe. Go to a familiar place that you know and trust."

"I'd rather not…"

"Your preference doesn't matter." Said the voice. "Go to your safe place. Go to your Wonderland." As the person spoke, rain fell from the sky and doused the fire. Trees, shrubs and giant mushrooms sprouted up in their place. Before Arthur knew it, he was sitting on a giant lily pad, floating down the river. "Now… Where are you?"

Arthur smiled a little. "I'm… I'm sailing…" He looked over only to see something that resembled a giant white rabbit drinking from a tea cup over the other side of the lily pad. "With a friend? Strange… things seem different…"

"Different is good." Said the voice calmly. "It's the first thing that signifies that we are able to forget."

Arthur nodded in agreement. He looked over at the rabbit. Something was wrong though. One of its eyes was twitching and bludging slightly, like it was going to explode. "W-what's happening? R-rabbit?"

"Rabbit?" Asked the voice. "That's not right… Why is the rabbit there?"

The rabbits mouth opened slightly and blood started to ooze out along with teeth. It's head turned and twitched, cracking every time. It was like someone was twisting it's neck off. Before Arthur could utter a single word the rabbits head got torn from its body and a fountain of blood showered down on Arthur. After the blood had sprayed out, thick black gunge squirted from its neck too.

"No!" Cried Arthur. "Not that! Anything but that!"

"Don't struggled, Arthur." Said the voice in a calming manner, although the voice was now quite distant. "Let this new land consume you."

"NO!" Screamed Arthur. He was starting to panic now. "THIS CORRUPTION! THIS PLACE! It's KILLING ME! MY MIND IS IN RUINS!"

"Forget that place." Said the voice calmly. "Lock it away and awaken in three, two, one."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Arthur's emerald eyes snapped open and he jolted upright in his seat. His head was pounding uncontrollably and he could still smell the stench of fire and blood on his clothes.

His therapist smiled kindly from behind his desk, with the kind eyes of a grandfather. The small plaque on his desk started he was Doctor Vargas. He was widely known for being one of the best doctors in London, if not the whole UK when it came to matters of the mind. "There you go Arthur." He said. "Much better."

"It feels like a train has crashed into my skull and one of those awful steam hammers are beating in my chest." Grumbled Arthur miserably.

His therapist sighed a little. "The price of forgetting such painful memories is high. In your case it might be too high."

"I want to forget!" Snapped Arthur. "Who the bloody hell would want to be trapped by their broken memories? They make me sick!"

"I want to help you." Said doctor Vargas calmly. "I want to set you free. I want to help you forget all about you past and help you move forward with your life. Memory is often a curse, more damaging than a blessing."

Arthur snorted. "So you've said."

"And I'll tell you again." He said. "The past is a dangerous thing when the circumstances are right." He scribbled something down on a piece of paper and held it up for Arthur to take. "Before our next session I want you to try and do some breathing exercises, try your best to avoid stressful situations, almost impossible in your life of work, but do try your best and get this medicine. It should help with your night terrors."

Arthur sighed and took the paper from the doctor. "Very well. Until next time I suppose." He pocketed the paper and left the doctor's workplace, exiting onto the streets of London.

He honestly didn't like going to those sessions with the therapist. He didn't like talking to strangers about his problems, but he had no choice in the matter. The people he worked for insisted that he get his head in the right place or risk getting fired.

He sighed a little as he walked down the street, steam powered carriages plodded along in their awkward manner, steered by their drivers the steam droids. Women happily talked along the streets about the latest fashions. Men spoke of all kinds of dramas involving matters of government and laws. Children spoke to one another about the latest whimsical gadget that had become widely available to the masses. Today it seemed to be some strange kind of steam powered dog.

Arthur sighed a little as he readjusted the black goggles on his head. He didn't appreciate all the thick steam that hung about his head, but it was unavoidable. That's just how things were these days. Everything was powered by steam in some form or another. To think the world was different in some way was foolish.

As he walked down the street he ducked a couple of times to dodge flying mechanical beetles. A children's toy powered by cogs and springs. They were always a popular toy amongst school children. He himself had a small collection of beetles when he was younger.

He shook his head, attempting to rid himself of those thoughts. '_No… This is neither the time nor the place to think about such things. I just need to get my medication and go home._'

Collecting his medication was easy. He just popped down to the chemist and got a few bottles of mismatched pills and different herbs, mostly for tea purposes.

Once he had gathered his things, he went home. When he entered his rather lavished London apartment he started with his routine as he always did; coat on coat rack, goggles and gloves on table next to the door along with keys, kettle on and get scones from the cupboard. Once his water was boiled and his tea was brewed he walks into the lounge room and sat down on an armchair, gazing into the empty fire place.

For the most part his life was quiet. He worked in many places for many people. Mostly rich families and businessmen. All of whom never asked for his help directly. The agency where he worked assigned him to places according to his natural ability. Arthur specialized in finding missing people of all ages.

That was part of the reason that Arthur's bosses forced him to see the good doctor, that and after a particularly stressful case he was left in an almost catatonic state.

Arthur frowned a little as he drank his tea in silence. '_I wonder… I wonder what it would be like to just fall asleep and never wake up._' He liked that thought. '_That would be a wonderful escape from my broken memories… about the fire… Mum, dad, Allistor, Dylan, Mary… I just… I want to forget everything…_'

He looked over at his bottles of medication and sighed sadly. No one would miss him of he left now. He had nothing anyway. Nothing but broken memories wrapped in torment, crushed under foot, scattered to the wind and joined back together as scattered fragments of his subconscious.

He opened one of the bottles and drank all the brown liquid in the bottle before swallowing all the red pills in the other. He sighed contently and closed his eyes.

'_I guess this is finally the end…_' He thought happily. '_It'll all end and my mind will be back in order. I'll be free of everything._'

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Well, he obviously doesn't die in the prologue, but you get the idea. I hope you all like this chapter. Please review.


	2. Mock Turtle Café

**Shinigami-cat: **Hey guys! Well, here's my next chapter for this. I really hope you all are liking this so far. Also, some people have noticed that I have used a lot of the dialogue from Alice Madness Returns in the prologue. That is because it was that particular part that inspired me to write this whole thing. It's not some weird spinoff of the game, so don't worry. The song used is White Rabbit by Egypt Central… I OWN NOTHING!

**Mock Turtle Café **

Two days ago there was a house fire in the small country town of Burton, situated on the River Brue. Of the five members of the family that were within the house at the time, five died. All died in their sleep and found tucked in their beds. The smoke had gotten to them first, leaving nothing but charred skeletons.

Only one member of the family is alive and until a few hours she was suspected to have started the blaze. That was until the agency got a ransom note, straight from the kidnappers themselves.

The note was signed in animal blood by the three worst gangs of the British underworld. The Cards, Checkers and Chess. These gangs are highly dangerous and for that reason it's in your interest to go undercover until such time as the case is over. You are too meet our double agent at the Mock Turtle Café. Code name Cheshire.

It is in the best interest of the agency that she is brought back alive. This reason cannot be disclosed at the current time. Good luck, Looking-glass, AKA Arthur Kirkland.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Arthur frowned a little as he read and re read the letter sent to him by the agency. He calmly tossed the letter into his fire place and let the letter crackle and burn as he drank his tea. He was used to getting these kinds of cases. It had been two years since he attempted suicide and one year since he had been allowed to leave the asylum.

After that he was forced back the agency into working cases again. Not that he could blame them for wanting him back. He was the best at what he did. That was why the agency hired him after all. Though this case was exceedingly unusual.

For one, the agency didn't supply the name, age or a photograph of the girl he was meant to collect. She was an enigma. A mystery. A silent whisper in the wind. It both disturbed and excited him. A new challenge for him, but going to meet someone at the Mock Turtle? That was in one of the nasty parts of London.

There was a knock at the door. Frowning, Arthur slowly got up and walked to the door. Standing there was a Steam Droid. A rather miraculous invention really. They were anatomic beings powered by steam. Most were created to drive the carriages that cluttered the streets of London, but if the wrong people got their hands on them there could be disastrous consequences.

From the silk ribbon tied around the Droid's top hat, Arthur could tell immediately that it was an escort. Probably going to take him to the Mock Turtle, or at least drop him off close to it as they do.

"I am to take Arthur Kirkland to his destination." Said the Droid in its off mechanical voice.

Arthur nodded and walked out to the carriage, complete with awkward looking steam powered horse. It turned its head in a clipped, timed way as to attempt to simulate a horse. Signing, Arthur climbed into the back and waited for the Droid to take him to his destination. Sitting next to him in the carriage was a large box tied up with a red ribbon. He took off the lid and watched as a card fell out. He picked up the card and quickly read over the gold scribble on the back.

_Wear me._

He sighed a little as he looked through the disguise that the agency had given him to wear today. He had been given a black button up shirt, forest green vest, black leather coat, a belt covered with all manner of miss matched junk, goggles and a pair of thick leather boots. "Of course." Muttered Arthur. "This is just like them… making me dress like one of those underclass punks all in the name of work."

He pulled on the clothes and waited for the ride to end. As he waited he looked out the window and watched as the people and the places rolled by. London had entered a golden age of steam technology. Everything was powered by some kind of steam mechanism or tightly wound spring. The fashion of the day expressed this too.

The upper class wore an array of fashionable Victorian garments and enjoyed the finer things in life, while middle and underclasses wore much more junked clothing. Garments made to look like those from the upper class but with a much more mechanical and makeshift nature, created from mismatched leather, copper cogs, old corsets and random, decorative junk. This style was known as Steam punk.

Arthur was not a huge fan of it. The style was too mismatched for his tastes. He much preferred the prim and proper attire of his fellow man of proper English society. Though, if he must dress like a degenerate, than he would. It was part of his job.

Soon the light hearted and whimsical nature of the good and proper face of London changed to the darkened and more dangerous tones of the London he preferred to ignore. Looters, thief's, swindlers and all manner of man and woman lived in these parts.

The carriage lurched to a halt hours after later, signalling that he had arrived. With a sigh, Arthur climbed out, stepping into a puddle. "Bloody hell…"

This place was less than dismal. It was appalling. Urchins pickpocketed the unaware, prostitutes happily sold their backsides on street corners, black market dealers stood in alleyways with their thick trench coats on ready to sell their illegal goods and beggars sat along the walls and begged for money. The whole set up made Arthur's skin crawl and his stomach turn.

He started to make his way to the Mock Turtle Café. Mock Turtle was well known for its cheap food, strong alcohol and surprisingly comfortable beds. It was more like a pub than a café, but no one complained.

Arthur made his way into the café and took a seat outside. Perhaps he was early and would meet Cheshire soon. Whoever the man or woman was. The agency had a habit of naming its employees strange names. His own code name was Looking Glass.

As he waited he noticed a beggar on the street. This one was wearing a hooded cloak so his face was hidden and playing something that looked like a guitar. '_At least he's not outright begging._' Thought Arthur. He looked over at the beggar as he strummed his guitar and started to sing.

_Your magic white rabbit  
Has left it's writing on the wall  
We follow like Alice  
And just keep diving down the hole_

You can't face your broken promise  
Our ties have come undone  
I will not be used to be battered and abused  
It's the reason why I choose to cut my losses  
Your lies fool no one  
Your magic white rabbit  
Your white room straight jacket

Your magic white rabbit  
Has left it's writing on the wall  
We follow like Alice  
And just keep diving down the hole  
We're falling and we're losing control  
Your pulling us and dragging us down this dead end road  
We follow like Alice  
And just keep diving down the hole

"Why is a raven like a writing desk?" Asked a French voice.

Arthur looked up and frowned a little. There standing across from him was a man with shoulder length blond hair and blue eyes. He wore the same style of clothes as he did, except his under shirt was a dark red, and his vest was a navy blue. He also wore some kind of black and gold decorative gas mask on his face that only covered the lower part of his face. It annoyed Arthur to no end.

"Ravens eat worms and a writing desk is worm ridden." Muttered Arthur. "Cheshire I presume?"

"That would make you, Looking- glass." Said the Frenchman, sitting down across from Arthur. He sighed a little and extended his gloved hand. "I'm Cheshire, though you can call me Francis."

Arthur rolled his eyes, but shook the Frenchman's hand anyway. "Whatever… Call me Arthur. I never liked that Looking- glass nonsense… So do you have any information on the girl or not?"

Francis sighed a little. "I guess the time has come my little friends to talk of other things… Of shoes, ship and ceiling wax, cabbages and kings… and why the sea is boiling hot and weather pigs have wings."

"Bloody frog." Muttered Arthur. "Why do they call you Cheshire anyway?"

"The same reason they call you Looking-glass I guess." Said Francis. He took a deck of cards out of his pocket and shuffled them a little. "The world's divided into black and white. Right and wrong. Poor and rich. The fortunate prey upon the unfortunate and those who are weak."

'_Of course the agency pairs me up with some insane lunatic._' Thought Arthur bitterly.

Francis turned the cards over. "Kings and Queens rule the world while the Jacks, the religious have a steady hand in their affairs. Going down the line the you have your upper class that are better off than the lowest, unless you are the Ace. The Ace is always here and there. He is good and he is bad." As Francis rambled on and on about everything and nothing, Arthur listened to the beggar play his music again.

_You can't offer your poison to me  
In your kingdom of filth  
White Rabbit  
Straight jacket_

Your magic white rabbit  
Has left it's writing on the wall  
We follow like Alice  
And just keep diving down the hole  
We're falling and we're losing control  
Your pulling us and dragging us down this dead end road  
We follow like Alice  
And just keep diving down the hole

I won't be pushed aside  
I will be heard  
I will get what I want  
What I deserve

_I won't be pushed aside  
I will be heard  
I will get what I want  
What I deserve_

"Are you even listening to me?" Asked Francis.

"Sorry, but I grow tired of listening to blithering idiots." Said Arthur coldly. "I don't like this place. Why couldn't we meet somewhere better, more…?"

"Sophisticated?" Asked Francis. "Somewhere more discrete perhaps? Well I'm sorry. I don't take strangers to my home."

"Even if we're from the agency?" Asked Arthur.

"Especially if you're from the agency." Said Francis. He sighed a little and stood up. "Well, I guess we could go to the meeting place they set up for us… At least there we can be in more private quarters and I can give you a debriefing."

"Sounds like a plan." Muttered Arthur. The pair of them got up and left Mock Turtle and walked down the street. As they walked, Arthur threw a couple of coins into the singing beggar's guitar case.

_We're falling and we're losing control  
Your pulling us and dragging us down this dead end road_

Your magic white rabbit  
Has left it's writing on the wall  
We follow like Alice  
And just keep diving down the hole  
We're falling and we're losing control  
Your pulling us and dragging us down this dead end road  
We follow like Alice  
And just keep diving down the hole

Your magic white rabbit  
Has left it's writing on the wall  
We follow like Alice  
And just keep diving down the hole  
Diving down the hole

Once they were out of ear shot, Francis started to chuckle. "What is it frog?"

"I'd advise against giving money out like that." Said Francis. "Beggars that know you have money are more likely to try and rob you blind when you aren't looking." Arthur highly doubted that Francis was right, but didn't want to prove the Frenchman right either.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

The pair entered a rundown apartment building and walked into one of the rooms. The whole place looked burnt down and mouldy. It was gross. Arthur didn't like the dank, damp air that hung thickly in the air.

"Come on frog. What do you have to tell me about the girl?" He asked. "Why was she kidnapped? Who is she? Tell me everything you know."

Francis shrugged and pulled a leather suit case out from under a mouldy pile of sheets. He placed them onto a charred metal table and opened it up. "I know very little about this case, just that she was not originally kidnapped. I just know she followed a man out of her house the night it was set alight."

"Who was this man?" Asked Arthur. He was eager for a lead.

"A mystery man." Said Francis. "He's… A difficult man to find. He's not found unless he wishes to be. Those in the loop know him as White Rabbit. A professional abductor, mercenary, hit man… a jack of all trades if you would. He works underground… very underground. Find the White Rabbit and you'll find the girl." He turned the suit case around.

Inside was a large dagger with an intricate design on the blade. Arthur picked it up by the copper coloured handle and swung it through the air. "So the agency has decided that a blade is better for me than a gun?"

"It's a new kind of blade." Said Francis. "It's called the Vorpal blade. It's strong, durable, can cut through almost everything, never get dull and one whip with a rag and it'll be better than new… One, two! One, two! And through and through. The vorpal blade went snicker-snack! He left it dead, and with its head he went galumphing back."

"Poetry aside, you have been slightly useful." Muttered Arthur. "Where do I need to be to find the White Rabbit and will you be joining me on my mission?"

Francis chuckled and put away the suit case. "Assist you, yes… But join you? I don't think so. I don't have a death wish. I'll be there from time to time to help you and offer you advice, but when the heat is on I'm gone."

Arthur scoffed. "Spoken like a true Frenchman." He hid the vorpal blade under the folds of his clothes. "So where must I go? Is there some dank hovel in this miserable place I must explore?"

"Yes… and no…" Said Francis. "The best way to explain it would be something like this… To find a human one must look on land and sea, sometimes air… but to find a rabbit one must look underground. If you want to find the rabbit you must look at Under London."

Arthur shivered at the thought. "I guess that makes sense… I must go to the world of the crime lords to find the girl they have gotten this rabbit to abduct. Pity. I'm not looking for a fight."

"Well one is most definitely looking for you." Purred Francis in a cat like manner. It made Arthur's skin crawl.

"Whatever. Take me to where I need to go and I'll be on my way." Muttered Arthur. "Wretched creature."

"I don't mind being wretched as long as I'm content." Said Francis in a smug tone.

"You're insufferable."

"And you're just as delusional and lethal as you ever were." Shot back Francis. "I know about your cases. There's hardly a single one where someone wasn't killed as collateral or by some strange accident."

Arthur glared at the Frenchman. "Unless you'd like to lose your tongue I suggest that you shut it."

"Touchy subject for you isn't it?" Asked Francis. "Oh well, times ticking slowly away… We must get going. I'll show you the way, but the other paths you must choose yourself."

'_Why do I always get paired up with the loony people?_'

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Well I really hope you all liked this chapter, it was lots of fun to write. Please review.


	3. Under London

**Shinigami-cat: **Well, sorry it's taken a while to get the next chapter up, I have a few assignments and lots of homework to deal with… I OWN NOTHING!

**Under London**

The pair left the burnt out apartment and walked into a back alley. Trash cans overflowed with garbage as giant rats scurried around looking for scraps. By doing this, the filthy creatures stirred up of noxious stench, making Arthur gag.

"So where is the entry to Under London?" He asked.

"It is as the name suggests." Said Francis simply. "Under London is situated under the town on London itself… and there's only one way to get under London." He tapped his foot against a manhole.

Arthur looked at Francis in disbelief. "No way frog. There's no way I'm going to scurry around in the sewers like a common rat!"

"Then you've failed your mission, haven't you?" Asked Francis. Even though he was wearing a gas mask, Arthur could tell the Frenchman was smirking.

"Bloody frog." Muttered Arthur. He didn't like the idea of jumping down into a dank, dark place. Getting trapped in a place where he couldn't see or move put him on edge.

Francis chuckled and pulled the manhole open. "Come along. We don't have time to waste hanging around here."

"Don't pressure me frog." Snapped Arthur. "I'm on edge here."

"Good. When you're not on edge you're taking up too much space."

"Did you just call me fat?" Snapped Arthur.

"No time for chit chat." Said Francis quickly. "It's time to take the plunge." Without another word, Francis jumped down the manhole, his feet making a soft splash as they hit the water. Biting back the nagging fear in the back of his mind, Arthur jumped down after the Frenchman.

In all honesty, Arthur preferred the smell of the garbage compared to the rank and vile smell of rotting human waste. It made him sick to his stomach. He envied Francis for actually wearing a gas mask in this place. Instead of admitting his weakness he simply followed the Frenchman around in the sewers.

'_I hate this place._' Thought Arthur miserably. '_Why do I even have to go into this dark place? I don't think some of the structures here are too stable…_'

"Are you even listening to me, Arthur?" Asked Francis.

"What?"

Francis sighed a little. "I said, are you okay? You seem to be distracted. Are you claustrophobic or something?"

"Not in the slightest." Said Arthur. "It's just some places… They trigger memories and they make me uncomfortable. Besides it stinks here."

"Oh right… I almost forgot that… My mask filters everything. I guess it's both good and bad." He shrugged and continued to walk. "Oh well, we're almost there anyway." Arthur rolled his eyes. He was becoming increasingly impatient with the Frenchman.

"The agency must be insane… Letting a creep like you run around and drag people into sewers." Muttered Arthur.

Either Francis didn't hear him or chose to ignore him. After several minutes of walking around with nothing but the sounds of rats chewing on all kinds of things, they came across a giant barred, rusted great. It seemed like Francis' intention was to pass through it and to the other side.

"Impossible." Muttered Arthur. "We'll have to find another way around. Did you get us lost or something?"

Francis chuckled and started to press some of the damp bricks. After a few seconds a hole in the wall opened up, creating a doorway. "Here is our way through. Let's get going now. We can't waist our time now, can we?" He smiled and happily walked down into the dark hallway.

Arthur frowned and quickly followed. He didn't like how this was turning out. It seemed all so sceptical and suspicious. '_This is just… odd. Something doesn't seem right here at all._'

As they walked further and further down the hallway, Arthur was grateful that the stench of raw sewerage started to disappear, replaced with something that smelt salty. It was odd, but better than before. Almost suddenly the brick floor changed to a metal one and a strange luminescent blue light shone from the roof. It looked like a bunch of maggoty creatures crawling around inside thick glass suspended from the ceiling.

'_Glow worms perhaps?_'

Suddenly, Francis grabbed Arthur's arm, causing him to gasp in shock. "Bloody frog! Get your hands off me!"

"Relax." Cooed Francis. "You were so engrossed with watching the lights you didn't even see the transport." He gestured over towards a rather large looking pod. It seemed to be made of some kind of copper. It had a door on the side and inside were two lounges with seat belts and one large, industrial looking leaver. The Englishman felt foolish for not seeing it beforehand.

"Right… What the bloody hell is that thing?"

Francis chuckled and stepped inside. "Well, this is the only way for one to get down here without running down a million flights of stairs… There are actually about ten of these set up all over London… a hundred all together in the whole of the UK, but enough about that. Let's get going."

Arthur nodded and stepped inside the pod like machine. He sat down on the lounge and quickly did up the seat belt. He wasn't sure what was going to happen next, but if these seats had seat belts he could be sure that it was going to be quick and probably violent in some way.

The Frenchman simply chuckled and quickly pulled the leaver, closing the door to the pod and starting it on its decent. Francis quickly jumped into a seat on the lounge across from Arthur as a clicking noise resinated through the pod.

"I-Is this supposed to happen?" Asked Arthur in concern.

The Frenchman simply laughed and waved it off. "That's just this contraption lining up before we get shot down… Well, dropped is probably the more appropriate term."

"Dropped?" Asked Arthur in shock. Before he could voice his concern there was one final click and the pod dropped. Arthur was thankful that there were seat belts. If not he would have flown right out of the seat and hit the ceiling.

Once he had gotten his head around the sudden drop he noticed the flashing colours that started to pass by the window; reds, yellows, oranges and whites. The montage of colours set his nerves on fire and his body tremble. It triggered something in the back of his mind. '_Fire… I can't… No… What the heck am I…? Why am I…? Damn it. Why do I small smoke? Is this… Is this thing broken?_'

Suddenly the pod shuddered to a halt, causing the Englishman to jump in surprise. "Wh-what was that?"

Francis chuckled a little. "Don't worry. That just means that we've arrived at our destination… Are you okay though? You look like you're going to faint."

"I'm fine." Muttered Arthur. "I just… I need to take my medication soon."

"Medication?"

"It's none of your business." Snapped Arthur. "We all have our problems…"

Francis nodded in agreement. "Indeed… Maybe you'll fit in better than I originally thought…"

"What are you implying?" Snarled Arthur.

"Nothing really… Just that sanity may not be required for this job." Said Francis. "Sanity here is required in limited quantities, You're not nearly mad enough to be rejected." He unbuckled his seat belt and stood up. "You're like them, but not them, not like us… Fore I am them and you must be on your way." He pulled on the leaver again and the door sprung open.

Arthur glared at the Frenchman and quickly removed himself from the pod. '_What the hell is wrong with that man? Does he know more about me than he's letting on?_'

He looked out onto the land of Under London and was amazed. This place seemed to be in a huge cave like structure, filled with buildings similar to the normal streets of London and quite honestly it shocked him. He didn't think that Under London would be so huge.

Francis simply chuckled at Arthur's amazement and started to walk down a small flight of steps and onto the street. "It is amazing isn't it? Did you know that this place is not just a place for the gangs and criminals? It's also for the musicians, artists and the scientists of the world that need a place not bound by morals or this perfect society that the world above maintains… Just remember, you need to find the White Rabbit if you want to find this girl. I will be watching from afar and move in if I see the need to."

"Whatever." Muttered Arthur. He looked around at the people walking the street in their mismatched garments. "Before you said that you're like the people down here, what did you mean by that?" He turned back to look at Francis, only to see that the Frenchman was gone. "… Typical. Count on the French to turn tail and run when you need them for anything other than wine, cheese or sex."

With a sigh, Arthur started to walk through the streets of Under London. It was a strange place filled with things he honestly never expected to see in a place like this; mother's holding bub in one arm while grabbing another child's arm, young men and women walking side by side enjoying each other's company, older gentlemen discussing what seemed to be politics or something of similar nature. There didn't seem to be any difference here to the world above.

'_Remarkable…_' Thought the Englishman. '_But I can't be drawn in here… I need to find that hit man. The sooner I find this White Rabbit the sooner I can find the girl… I wonder why those gangs wanted her anyway?_'

Eventually his walk through the street brought him to a chemist. The chemist in question looked rather dank and unappealing, but they might have some medication and seeing as how Arthur wouldn't be back home anytime soon, he would need it.

He walked inside the shop and was surprised to see how things had been set up in this place. It looked more like a butchers shop then a chemist. There was a small, dwarfed man behind the counter putting bottles on a shelf. "Excuse me." Called Arthur. "Is this a chemist?"

The man turned around and squinted his beady eyes. "Yeah, I'd say so… Who are you then? Never seen you before. Are you new to Under London?

"I should think so." Muttered Arthur. "Um… do you stock Omega Blockers, type B?"

"OB's?" Asked the chemist in shock. "You must be barmy lad. We don't stock something so pricey. If you want to forget, go drink at that pub. It's run by those brothers. I forget their names but they are polar opposites. One swing of that stuff that they brew and you won't remember the past twenty years of your life."

"Alcohol doesn't work in my case." Muttered Arthur bitterly. "It just leaves me with a hangover and regret in the morning… Isn't there something you can give me?"

"Depends on how far back you want to forget." Said the chemist. "One year, two years back?"

"The age of ten and back." Said Arthur calmly.

The chemist nodded. "I see… Most of the people here don't want to remember their younger years… I can't really prescribe anything for you apart from Alpha Blockers. You'll just need to double the dose if you want to forget so far back… but even then it may not work."

"Deal." Said Arthur. "I'll take two bottles of the stuff then."

The chemist nodded and handed Arthur the drugs. "Best warn you though, this stuff is mighty strong."

The Englishman shrugged and too the bottles from the chemist and tossed him a few coins. "It doesn't bother me. I've been taking OB's since I was eleven. I doubt a few AB's are going to make me ill."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

"Why do I have to take these pills?" Asked Arthur quietly to the doctor. He had been sitting in that hospital bed for weeks now. All the while he had been remaining about the incident that occurred to his family.

"You have to take them to help you forget." Said the doctor in his authoritative voice that seemed to calm and sooth. "You've helped the police as much as you could have, but now it's time for you to forget it. You need to forget the incident if you want to move on and have a normal life."

Cautiously, Arthur looked at the pills in the tiny little cup that the doctor was offering to him. "What are they?"

"They are called Omega Blockers, type B or OB's if you want to use the street name for them. They will help take away the pain of knowing what happened to them… to you mother and father. Most importantly though, you'll forget what happened to Allistor, Dylan and Mary."

"But I-"

"Not buts, Arthur." Said the doctor. "What's better? To remember your family as they were after what happened to them or to forget that they ever existed? It's out of respect that we forget the worst parts… Now is it right for me to say that your family life was never the best? Wouldn't you rather forget all those memories?"

"… I guess so…"

"Good boy." Said the doctor. "Now, take your pills and tomorrow we can talk about where to send you. You're quite lucky that your parents were wealthy or you might have ended up on the street."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Arthur quickly dry swallowed four of the pills and put the bottles in his pocket. If it wasn't for the fog that clouded his mind he would have suspected that the pills had stopped working on him years ago.

'_Now where does one go to find a White Rabbit?_' He pondered quietly to himself as he quickly re-joined the flow of human traffic on the streets. Back in London, he would try to find people associated with the family and try to go from there, but since he already knew about the gangs because of the agency he figured that if he couldn't find the White Rabbit going after the leaders would be the next best thing.

Though, since he needed to find both he would have to find the darkest places in Under London. That would be his best bet, but he had no idea where to go. He had no clue where he needed to go, so he ended up wandering the streets for hours on end.

'_Bloody hell… Why the heck did Francis disappear like that?_' Thought Arthur miserably. '_I have no idea where to go or how to find that bloody hit man! Where the hell would I find him? Francis being as cryptically as he is would probably say that if I wanted to find a rabbit I would have to look in the country or some other rubbish._'

Suddenly Arthur got pulled into an alleyway and a knife was pressed against his throat. "Hand over your money or I'll gut you right here and now."

The Englishman simply chuckled at the man foolish enough to threaten him. "How about this instead… You let me go and I let you live."

"Hand over your money." Hissed the man. "I don't have time to argue with you."

Arthur sighed a little. "Okay… don't pretend I didn't warn you." In one swift motion he knocked the man's arm away and pulled the vorpal blade out from its hiding spot in his clothes, stabbing upwards into the thieves lungs and twisting to that he would suffocate and drown in his own blood at the same time. He pulled the blade out and turned the man around, slitting his throat. The man's blood sprayed across the adjacent wall. With a strangled choke the man fell to the floor, dead.

Arthur looked down at the dead man and frowned deeply. '_Damn it… Where the hell am I meant to hide the body?_'

"Just as insane and as deadly as you ever were." Cooed Francis. He was leaning against the wall next to Arthur. "Don't worry about hiding the body. No one gives a damn about human life down here… Have you killed before?"

"Plenty of times." Muttered Arthur. "It doesn't get any easier."

"And you have basic immunity from the law because of the agency don't you?" Asked Francis. "It's disgusting."

"I just do what I have to if my life is threatened." Said Arthur calmly. He put away the vorpal blade and sighed. "To save people's lives I've often had to kill many more to save the lives… Besides I just kill murderers and thieves. Why didn't you step in and help me?"

Francis shrugged. "I'm a lover, not a fighter. Besides, you seem more than capable of murdering people then me… and with your skills from the agency I'm sure that you're a professional killer compared to all them."

"I'm not a hit man." Muttered Arthur. "I just find and bring people home."

"Call yourself whatever you want. Hit man, a finder, a private detective… It's all the same in the end… If you want to find the White Rabbit you should look on the outskirts of Under London… I suggest traveling towards the main clock tower and heading and choosing where to go from there."

"Whatever you say frog, just don't va-" Arthur looked over at Francis and growled. "Bloody frog! He ran away again!"

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Well that was that. I'll put up the next chapter soon. Please review!


	4. Blackmailed by a Thief

**Shinigami-cat: **Well, here's the next chapter… I OWN NOTHING!

**Blackmailed by a Thief**

After the incident with the man trying to mug him and Francis running away again he had nothing better to do than to follow the Frenchman's advice and go to the clock tower. It was a little difficult to see in the beginning, but he eventually found it.

It was a strange, tall, gothic structure. Surrounded by all manner of people. For some reason there seemed to be a fair few people around it. It seemed to be construction, well at least some part of it did.

'_I wonder what the White Rabbit has to do with clocks?_' Pondered Arthur. He walked forwards towards the front of the crowd. As he moved he heard some of the locals whispering, gossiping about the construction.

"Said it was an earthquake they did."

"Bet it's just a lie or something… Heard it was a gas explosion."

"Unsafe for humans now they say."

"I heard that it was a Droid malfunction. One of them exploded and made one of the back rooms unstable."

"How did the Droid explode?"

"No clue."

"Think they'll fix the tower anytime soon?"

"Haven't a clue. Seems like nothing ever gets done around here."

"Too right about that."

Arthur frowned a little as he looked over at the building. There didn't seem to be much structural damage done to the building, it was just an extension. As he observed anything he noted two things; firstly there seemed like there would be a back way in. Easy enough to find with a little poking around. Secondly, there was someone in a black hoodie that had been following him since he had stepped into the crowd. It could have just been Arthur being paranoid though. He couldn't see the person's face and every time he turned around they would move out of site. He could only see them out of the corner of his eye.

'_Bloody nuisance._' Thought Arthur bitterly. '_If he tried anything I will stab that fucker in the throat._' Sighing a little he walked out of the crowd and tried to find another way in. It didn't take him too long to find. It was unguarded and sealed off with police tape. Probably stolen. There was no police force down here.

Arthur easily pulled the tape away and opened the door. The inside of the building seemed pretty standard. Nothing too unusual for a Gothic style place. He sighed a little and started to walk up the steps of the clock tower. After about a minute he heard the back door open, close and feet tap against the stone floor.

The blond hissed a little and quickly looked around to see if there was some place he could hide. As luck would have it there was a small door that lead into a cupboard. Obviously put in later, but still quite handy. All he had to do was hide inside and wait for the person to follow him up the stairs.

As soon as the man in the black hoodie walked by Arthur quickly pulled the person into the room and pinned him against the wall. "Why are you following me?" He hissed.

"Dude, relax." Said the hooded man. "I'm just going home. I can't help it if my way is your way too."

"So your way home involves running up a bloody clock tower?"

"Just to see where I'm going." Said the man. "Look, I'm not dangerous. Search me. I have nothing on me that could kill someone."

Frowning, Arthur did just that. Once he was sure that this person had nothing on him he backed off a little. "Is the clock tower some kind of reference point here or something?"

The man took off his hood and grinned. He had bright blue eyes and blond hair that had s strange cowlick that didn't seem to want to go down. "Kind of… I just like coming up here and looking at everything… You can see every territory here."

"Territory?"

"Dude, have you been living under a rock?" Asked the man. "The territories of the Cards, Chess and Checkers or course. Right now were in Chess territory, but I need to get to the Cards. I'll show you." He took Arthur by the arm and pulled him up to the top of the tower.

At the top of the tower Arthur could see everything; the makeshift London town, the large hills that divided it from the large industrial looking area with its shiny chrome and copper and the large expanse of water that surrounded something that looked like a medieval village.

"Chess territory is that shiny place and Cards territory is the castle place." Said the man. "If you look closely you can see the castle on the top of the hill way off in the distance… That's where the leader of the Card's live."

"What about the other's?" Asked Arthur. "The Chess and the Checkers?"

The man pointed to a building surrounded by a high gate. "That's where the leader of the Checkers lives… She's a little… not all there in the head, but then again who is sane down here? Anyway and that's where the leader of the chess lives." He pointed over to a large industrial building with a broken clock on it.

Arthur nodded. '_I see… Well If I can't find the White Rabbit I'll just have to confront these people in person. Highly dangerous and I'll probably get killed, but I should be fine._'

"Dude, you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine." Muttered Arthur. "I never got your name."

The blond grinned. "Alfred, and you would be?"

"Arthur… Thanks for your help, but I should be going. I have places to be."

Alfred pouted a little. "Aw, but we only just met. Where are you going anyway?"

"None of your business." Snapped Arthur. He turned and started to walk down the steps.

Alfred shrugged a little. "Okay then… but I highly doubt you're doing anything innocent if you're carrying this thing around." He pulled Arthur's vorpal blade out of his pocket and held it up. It still had a blood splatter pattern on it.

"How the bloody hell did you get that?!" Cried Arthur in shock. "Give it back!"

"No way dude." Said Alfred with a smirk. "This is a vorpal blade… If I sold this to the right person I could be a very rich man…" He turned the knife over in his hand, admiring the glint and shine of the silver metal. "I'm wondering how you got something like this… Whoever you got it from really wants you to survive and the only people I've seen with one of these are people from the agency."

'_Shit._' Thought Arthur in frustration. '_How the bloody hell can I get that off him and how does he know about the agency?_'

Alfred chuckled a little. "Look, I won't ask why you're here or why the agency gave you such a dangerous weapon. Hell, I won't even ask you why you're here… But if you want this back and want me to keep my silence you're going to have to pay for it."

Arthur's jaw dropped. "You bloody… You're nothing but a thief and a blackmailer! I'd sooner push you off this building than pay you to stay silent!"

"Too bad." Said Alfred in a whimsical manner. "You see, a vorpal blade would make me rich, but turning in one of you guys would make me a king. Everything has a price. How much is your life worth to you?"

The blond sighed and rubbed his temples in frustration. "Fine… What do you want, Alfred? Bloody bastard."

"I want you to take me to the Card territory." Said Alfred simply. "There's a thick fog that obscures the path to the Chess territory and there's a monster that block the way to the Card territory. If you do that for me I'll help you out with whatever you're doing and I'll pay you handsomely for your help."

"How will you pay me?" Asked Arthur. "In stolen goods? No thank you. I'm not the kind of person that benefits from other's misfortune."

"How nice of you to think you're all innocent in a world of madmen and thieves." Cooed Alfred. "You killed someone with this already. Self-defence or not you shouldn't have."

"Who are you to lecture me on the matters of mortality!" Snapped Arthur. "You're a common thief! A pickpocket! A scoundrel! A blackmailing beast!"

Alfred rolled his eyes. "I'm none of those things… Well, not really. Think of me as more of a jack of all trades. I can be very helpful, I've been living in this psycho city for most of my life. If you need something I can get it. I can find hidden places and bits of information. I know almost everything that goes on in this place. I'm priceless."

"And you think that means I will automatically bend to you will?" Snapped Arthur in frustration. "Give me my knife and let me be on my way!"

"But I can help you." Said Alfred. "I can get you to where you need to go without any hassle. Trust me."

"Why should I trust you?" Growled Arthur. "I already have someone who can show me around."

"And where are they?"

"… Around."

"Very helpful." Said Alfred sarcastically. "Look, if you don't help me I'll tell the leader of the Checkers that a member of the agency is in her territory and is after something. I can tell you now, she'll cut you down on the spot. Remember, my silence is cheap."

Arthur frowned as he thought over his options. On one hand he really didn't want Alfred to blow his cover, and on the other hand he could easily kill Alfred if he got in the way. The only way he could do that was if he had his vorpal blade back and that wasn't happening anytime soon.

"Fine." Muttered Arthur. "If it really must be that way then fine. I'll take you to the Card territory, but you have to give me back my weapon."

Alfred nodded and handed back Arthur's vorpal blade. "Okay then. Pleasure doing business with you. Now, are we heading straight there or do you need to do something first?"

The blond hesitated a little as he put his knife away. "I need… I need to speak with the leader of the Checker's gang. She might know or have access to someone I need to find."

Alfred chuckled a little. "So you're a finder? You find people for people? How do you know this person you're finding isn't happy?"

"Their family was murdered in cold blood and they were taken by a hired hit man or contractor or something… I've just been hired to find them."

Alfred nodded. "Sure… I'll help you get in there. No problem." He started to walk down the steps of the clock tower, pulling Arthur along with him. Arthur just rolled his eyes, wondering what kind of trouble he's gotten himself into now.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Well I hope you all liked this chapter. Please review.


	5. Wütendes Hutmacher

**Shinigami-cat: **Okay, here's the next chapter. Hope it's enjoyable… I OWN NOTHING!

**Wütendes Hutmacher**

For some ungodly reason, Alfred had decided to drag Arthur through what looked like a market district. It was bright, colourful and full of different foods and objects. It seemed like merchants from all over the world wanted to sell their wares. As a result the place was overflowing with people. While there, Alfred traded some scrap metal in his pocket for a bag and proceeded to gather all kinds of food and stuffed it into the bag.

"Why the bloody hell do you need so much food?" Asked the Englishman in shock.

Alfred laughed and stuck an apple on Arthur's mouth. "Keep calm and eat an apple. Besides, how can we do anything on an empty stomach." He bought some biscuits and stuffed them into his bag. "You want anything to eat? Sandwich?"

Arthur spat the apple out and rolled his eyes. "Bloody bastard. Don't just put things in my mouth!"

"Sorry dude." Said Alfred with a grin. "Oh we need to make another stop before we go to Chess territory. We need-"

"We are not going there first!" Snapped Arthur. "I need to go talk to the Checker's leader. I need to talk to her if I'm going to complete my mission." He didn't have time for all this fooling around. It was pathetic and stupid really. If this continued, Arthur would stab Alfred in the neck and let him bleed to death.

"Oh right…" Said Alfred. He sounded so spaced out and distant. "Oh well. There's a place I need to go first before to that crazy ladies place. It's right near there too. It's a pub."

"A pub?"

"Yep a pub." Said Alfred happily. "I have some people to meet there and something's I need to do there before we run off. I need some parts."

"Some parts?"

Alfred grinned like a madman as he stole a small cake from a stand. "I am a thief, remember? I need tools to help me keep surviving. Some lock picks… maybe a knife or two? You never know."

"What need does a thief need lock picks for in a thief among thieves?" Asked Arthur.

"Why rob thieves?" Asked Alfred. "To get the goods you need to go upstairs. That's where the gold, money and all kinds of interesting gadgets are. It's awesome up there. I love the ever expanding sky and the endless lands there are to explore…"

Arthur shook his head. He didn't understand this young man's mindset. He all but deemed it foolish and unrealistic. "So you mean to tell me that you go from this hell hole up to the surface to rob from the good citizens above, all in the name of money and trinkets?"

Alfred rolled his eyes as he squeezed through the crowds of people that clogged the street. "I never gone and robbed the wealthy that deserve it." Said Alfred sternly. "I make sure that I only steal from wolves in sheep's clothing. Madmen amongst men. A Bandersnatch ready to pounce and snap up the innocent."

"Whatever." Muttered Arthur.

The blue eyed blond chuckled a little and grabbed some more food off a table. At least this time he threw a few coins on the table for them. He offered one of the cake-like foods to Arthur. "Come on you… Have something to eat. You're going to like it. I swear it."

Reluctantly, Arthur bit into the pastry and was surprised to find it had mean in it. "Meat pie… What kind of meat is this? Pigeon?"

"A mix of everything I assume." Said Alfred. "Just if you ever get a choice, never eat the pork… Pork is bad. It had parasites in it and it can be mistaken for a different kind of meat…"

"What kind of meat?" Asked Arthur suspiciously.

"The kind of meat that would make you a monster of you ate." Muttered Alfred. He seemed to shiver at the thought. "Anyway, we have more important things to do. We must get to the pub. I have an audience with some business men of sorts."

"Why does it sound like this will be yet another thing I regret?" Muttered Arthur.

"Because it just might be." Cooed Alfred.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

After Alfred had pulled Arthur all through the market street, he pulled him into a smaller street, grinning happily. "Well, that went better than I expected."

"How so?"

"I didn't get caught by any steam droids." He said. With a silly grin on his face he happily walked down the narrow street. This confused Arthur a lot. Steam droids were not something to be feared. They were just robots made to drive carriages. They were slow and clunky. Most didn't even have legs.

"They aren't that strong…"

Alfred looked at Arthur like he was a fool before chuckling a little. "Right, you don't know. Down here, steam droids are like police… but much more heavy handed. I've only just managed to escape them a few times when they actually caught me."

"How have they been changed?" Asked Arthur.

Alfred shrugged. "The usual… Bigger, faster, stronger, carry weapon and software that no one has ever seen before. Sure, we're allowed to get away with most things down here, but something's are banned… Like trying to seek an audience with the leader of the Checkers…"

"Bloody hell." Muttered Arthur. This was getting complicated, not that it wasn't already. "Okay then. How do we get into her place to see her?"

"Some underworld magic my friend." Said Alfred with a wink. "I know everything about this place. I know every which way there is in this hell hole. I'm just that amazing like that. An awesome hero!"

"Hero's don't steal."

"What about Robin Hood?"

"He stole from the rich and gave to the poor. What do you do with your goods?"

Alfred shrugged. "I take what I need, need what I take. Some bread, a few extra coins. That's all. I'm not greedy." Somehow, Arthur didn't believe him in the slightest. "Okay, we're here."

Arthur looked up at the building that Alfred was pointing at and frowned a little. The place that Alfred had taken him too seemed to be some kind of pub. The red, yellow, black and white paint was chipping off the sides of the building. There was some large, stupid wooden top hat on the sign on the place. This place seemed to be called Wütendes Hutmacher. All that Arthur knew was that those words were German.

"The good old Wütendes Hutmacher." Said Alfred with a fond sigh. "This place is awesome. It's always filled with people, always sells food and drink and always has live performers every other day… If I remember correctly White Rabbit is meant to be singing here tonight."

Arthur's ears perked up at this news. "The White Rabbit?"

"Oh yeah, he's super big down here." Said Alfred. "A musical genius. People say he came from across the ocean and sings all kinds of songs. Most of them tragic, but all are filled with passion. He is amazing."

"I see… I would like to hear him perform." Said Arthur quietly. As it turns out, Alfred was much better than he originally thought he would be. Though the loudmouth was still annoying.

Alfred grinned and pulled the Brit inside. "Awesome. Word to the wise though, the guy who owns this place is a little vacant in the mind department, if you know what I mean."

"You either mean he is stupid or insane." Deadpanned Arthur. "Which is it?"

"A little of both." Said Alfred. "But insane is more accurate."

The inside of the pub was bustling with life; people singing drunken songs at tables, a few talking a little too loudly in a corner and a few people getting drinks from the bar. Overall it had a rather friendly feel, though the choice of deer and boar heads was a little tacky and tasteless, especially the deer head with the fedora on its head and cigar sticking out of its mouth.

Alfred smiled happily. "This place is pretty awesome… Go get a drink and I'll be back. The people I need to meet are upstairs. I won't be long." With that, Alfred slinked away into the sea of people.

Sighing, Arthur sat down at the bar and waited for the bartender to notice him. The bartender was a rather large, bulky and intimidating individual with slicked back blond hair and lightning blue eyes. It was a little creepy.

After a few moments the bartender spotted Arthur and walked over to him. "Welcome to Wütendes Hutmacher. Can I take your order?"

"I'll take the weakest drink you've got." Said Arthur. "I don't have a high tolerance for the stuff." The man frowned a little but served Arthur a cup of tea. "I didn't think you would serve tea."

"We aren't a normal pub." Said the man. "Who are you anyway? Have you only just moved to Under London?"

"You could say that…" Muttered Arthur.

The muscular blond nodded a little and seemed to take pity on the Brit. "I see. Well, since everyone here knows everyone by first name, I'm Ludwig. Part owner of this… dismal establishment."

"Arthur… So can I ask a few questions?"

"Ja, sure… Just one second." He slammed his fist against the bar and yelled out. "Hey! Hurry up and get those mugs off that table, Matthew!"

A boy with shoulder length blond hair quickly looked up from the table he was currently wiping down and nodded rapidly. "Oui! I-I'm on it!" He quickly hurried over and started to collect the mugs and wipe up the spilled beer.

The blond looked familiar to Arthur, but he just couldn't place it. "Who's that?"

Ludwig shook his head. "A street rat, though since he's so small think of him as either a bird or a door mouse… My bruder and I found him almost starved to death in a cardboard box out the back of this place. He looked close to death. We took pity on him and got him back to a healthy state. Though, once he got better he didn't want to leave. We let him stay as long as he helps clean this place up with us."

"Speaking of your brother, where is he?"

"Knowing him, still sleeping." Muttered Ludwig. "He sleeps more and more these days… Not that I can blame him. After everything that they did to him… I'm surprised he can still breathe."

"Who are they?"

Ludwig sighed a little. "Well… it's no real secret anymore anyway. My brother and I are orphans and to make ends meet my brother did some bad things. One time he got into some people's bad books and they tried to kill him via mercury. They made him swallow it, but he threw it up. Sadly it didn't matter and the damage has already been done. He's as mad as a hatter. Hence the name of the pub. Also, my bruder chose the decorations."

Arthur couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Ludwig. He had heard of people with mercury poisoning. They would complain about their skin constantly itching and burning, their skin would become discoloured on their cheeks, fingertips and toes and their skin would even start to peel off like an orange. Sometimes their hair, teeth and nails would fall out. Though, the most famous symptoms beside the skin shedding were insanity, sensitivity to light, increased sweating, irregular heart beat and drooling.

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to pry into personal things." Muttered Arthur.

"It's okay." Said Ludwig with a shrug. "Sure his nails are falling out occasionally and he spouts nonsense left right and centre but he's happy, At least I think he's happy anyway… Or at least I hope he is… Matthew takes care of him mostly though. It's good, I can close the pub later that way."

"I see…" Before Arthur could ask any more questions, Ludwig went to serve another customer. Thankfully he wasn't alone for too long, because one Francis decided to make another appearance.

"Did you really miss my company so much that you just had to run out and make friends with the first person you met?"

"Bastard." Muttered Arthur. "That bloody fool figured out who I was. In exchange for my life I have to take him to the Heat's territory. Should I just kill him now?"

"You could, but that would be unproductive." Said Francis. "Besides, he could be helpful."

"He already was." Said Arthur. "He took me to this pub and said that the White Rabbit sings here every now and then. I hope he's here tonight."

"I think he will be." Said Francis happily. "After which I assume you'll follow him and confront him… possibly stabbing him with your vorpal blade?"

"Probably." Muttered Arthur. "What are you looking at?"

"Matthew."

"Pervert."

"I take offence to that." Said Francis, though he didn't sound offended. "He is my son."

"Your what?"

Francis sighed a little. "Nineteen years ago my wife had my son, but three years later there was a fire." Just the mention of burning embers was enough to make Arthur shiver. "My wife died and it was assumed that my son died too, but Matthew is my son. I found out that the people I used to work for didn't want me to neglect my duties and wanted me to keep my mind on the job… as a result they killed my wife, destroyed my house and took away my son."

Arthur couldn't believe what Francis was saying. "W-what? Did you confront them, you old bosses?"

"Oui, I did." Said Francis. "Why do you think I wear this mask? It's not for decoration or the only way I can breathe… I wear it to hide what those bastards did to my face… Since the world up there shuns everything that is not perfect or beautiful this was the only place I could live in peace… I have been living here for seven years. I only found Matthew a few months ago… I still haven't told him who I am yet."

"Do you think you ever will?"

"Why bother? He seems happy enough."

"Happy or not you should tell him the truth… You're his family."

"And what do you know about family?" Asked Francis. "Are you married?"

"Never have been and never will be." Said Arthur. "Never known a real family either, I'm an orphan. Abandoned at birth… At least that's what I will continue to believe as long as I keep taking my pills."

"What could have happened to make you want to forget your whole family?"

"I don't know." Muttered Arthur. "So I guess the pills are working wonders for me then."

Francis frowned a little. "How sad… You hide behind the fog that the drugs create and cloud your mind… You're no better than the alcoholics in this pub or the opium addicts over in the Heart's territory."

"Don't lump me together with the addicts." Hissed Arthur. "Wouldn't you forget about everything that happened to you, your wife and your son if you could?"

"Never." Sid Francis bluntly. "Memories don't make us weak and if I forget my lovely wife I'll forget myself and that would be a tragedy… Memories are important for shaping and creating who you are as a person. If you willingly forget your past it makes me wonder who or what you're trying to forget… I have several ideas but none of them are probably correct."

"Shut up frog." Hissed Arthur. "Go back to whatever hovel that your crawled out of. I'll call o you if I need you."

"The question is not if it is when." Said Francis. He sighed a little walked past Arthur, quickly whispering into his ear. "You know… they say that the White Rabbit's songs reflect how he has dealt with his victims. Listen to his songs carefully and try to figure out if your charge is still alive."

Arthur shivered a little at that thought. "Still alive?

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Done, but seriously guys, I would like a few more reviews or some kind of feedback. Please review.


	6. White Rabbit

**Shinigami-cat: **Hey everyone. I hope you all like this and leave reviews damn it. The lyrics used are Welcome to the Masquerade by Thousand Foot Krutch… I OWN NOTHING!

**White Rabbit**

The Brit didn't have to wait too long for the elusive White Rabbit to appear. It was hard to miss him anyway. The man in question wore a heavy hooded cloak that covered his most of his head. If he had any hair it was unknown to Arthur the length or the colour.

The mask on his face was something quite different though, made of what looked like a mix of porcelain and silk, the eye sockets seemed to be made from a kind of black plastic, small golden accents decorated the mask and there was a some strange, black box covering the lower half of his face. In all honesty, Arthur had no idea what that was for. He walked over to some of the people still playing on stage and handed them some sheet music. They looked over it and played a few notes.

Arthur frowned a little at this as he drank his tea. '_What could they possibly be talking about? Why does this make me so damn uneasy… I know every well that the girl could be dead. I hope she isn't, but still…_' After a few moments the White Rabbit picked up a guitar and started playing.

_We've got the fire, who's got the matches__  
__Take a look around at the sea of masks__  
__and come one come all, welcome to the grand ball__  
__Where the strong run for cover and the weak stand tall_

_I'm not one to scatter ashes__  
__But there's some things that melt the plastic__  
__Try and dig down deeper if you can_

_I'm not afraid__  
__I'm not ashamed__  
__I'm not to blame__  
__Welcome to the masquerade__  
__I'm not ashamed__  
__I'm not afraid__  
__I'm not okay__  
__Welcome to the masquerade__  
__Welcome to the masquerade__  
_

Arthur frowned a little. The White Rabbit's song was all kinds of strange. He didn't know what he was supposed to decipher from this. Francis had told him that his songs reflected what happened to the people he dealt with.

"Are you okay there?" Asked Ludwig. "You seem a little… tense."

"I just have a few things on my mind at the moment." Said Arthur calmly. "That's all… How long has he been here?"

"White Rabbit?" Asked Ludwig. "For as long as I can remember. He just comes in and plays a song or two before he leaves. He's a strange guy."

The Brit nodded a little. "I see… Didn't you mention the people here are on a first names basis here? What's his name?"

"Not sure." Said the German. "He's always been known as White Rabbit to us." Disappointed that he didn't get the response he was after, Arthur turned his attention back to the song.

_We've got the power, who's got the action__  
__Break it down till there's nothing but a mere fraction__  
__Out of the fire, rise from the ashes__  
__Reject your doubt and release the passion__  
__Let's get on it, believe if you want it__  
__step into the realm where the real ones flaunt it__  
__Come back, rewind, another time on it__  
__Reach out, take that, but now step on it_

_I'm not one to scatter ashes__  
__But there's some things that melt the plastic__  
__Try and dig down deeper if you can_

_I'm not afraid__  
__I'm not ashamed__  
__I'm not to blame__  
__Welcome to the masquerade__  
__I'm not ashamed__  
__I'm not afraid__  
__I'm not okay__  
__Welcome to the masquerade__  
__Welcome to the masquerade_

_I'm not afraid__  
__I'm not ashamed__  
__I'm not to blame__  
__Welcome to the masquerade__  
__I'm not ashamed__  
__I'm not afraid__  
__I'm not okay__  
__Welcome to the masquerade__  
__Welcome to the masquerade__  
__Welcome to the masquerade_

_I'm not one to scatter ashes__  
__But there's some things that melt the plastic__  
__Try and dig down deeper if you can_

_I'm not afraid__  
__I'm not ashamed__  
__I'm not to blame__  
__Welcome to the masquerade__  
__I'm not ashamed__  
__I'm not afraid__  
__I'm not okay__  
__Welcome to the masquerade__  
__Welcome to the masquerade_

Once his song was done, the White Rabbit put down the guitar down and quickly left the stage. Arthur quickly downed his tea and went to follow that man. He was surprisingly fast and agile.

"Wait!" Called Arthur. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

The White Rabbit looked over at Arthur and froze for a second before quickly bolting out the backdoor as fast as he could. '_Darn it… Does he know who I am or something?_'

Arthur quickly followed the White Rabbit out the door and cursed in frustration. "Damn that bloody rabbit… Where the heck could he have gone?" He looked around to see if there was anyone who could have seen him. There was a man sitting by the door with a bottle of beer in hand. Cautiously, Arthur approached the man. "Excuse me, Have you seen the White Rabbit?"

The man chuckled darkly as he adjusted the tattered hat on his head. On closer inspection he had a series of bandages on his thin fingers and the ones that weren't bandaged were tinted pink and his nails were yellow. "Rabbits?" He muttered. "You want to talk about rabbits? Go to a butcher. He'll carve one up. Peter cotton tail. Hip, hop, chop."

Arthur sighed a little. "Right. I should have expected this kind of banter from a drunk person."

"Drunk?" Snarled the man. "Fucking, bloody… can't get the fucking cork out of this stupid thing. No, no I haven't had a single fucking drop!" The man threw the bottle against the wall, causing it to shatter everywhere. "Fine! Fucking fine! I'm too awesome for this shit anyway! Fucking bastards with their damn drugs and their fucking doctors!"

'_Okay… this man is clearly deranged._' Thought Arthur calmly. '_I guess this means that there is nothing I can do for him and nothing he can do for me._'

"Just like that bloody rabbit!" Cried the man. "Jumping around like he owns the place, but he stinks of blood!"

"Blood?" Asked Arthur. He frowned a little and moved slightly closer to the man. "What do you mean?" The man looked up at Arthur, his eyes were blood red, his hair was a silver colour, some of his skin was peeling off his cheeks and he seemed to be drooling a little.

"Blood." Hissed the man. "Bloody, bloody, bloody fucking blood! Him and all the others that still work under those fucking bastards smell of nothing but blood…" He looked down at his fingers and started to flick a bandaged finger against his thumb nail. The discoloured nail cracked and splintered off, though the man didn't seem to care. He continued to mutter on and on about things under his breath.

"Are you alright?" Asked Arthur. "Um, would you like me to get someone from inside to help you?"

"You smell like blood." He muttered. "I can't trust you. You're like them. You say one thing and mean another. You'll do what they did. You'll try to kill me and take my brother away because he has potential. That's what you fucking do."

"I-I assure you I'm not trying to trick you…" Said Arthur earnestly. "I just want to make sure you're okay." The man glared at Arthur for a few moments before quickly reaching out and snatching something out of Arthur's pocket. It was a bottle of his Alpha pills. "Hey! I need those!"

The man growled a little as he quickly read over the bottle. "No…" He muttered. "These are bad pills. Very bad pills. This is what they were making me do… I didn't want to do it anymore. They wouldn't let me go through… If they couldn't have my mind no one was going to have it… My life's work… reduced to nothing but the tools of corruption for liars, pedophiles, murders, judges and all kinds of scum."

The man's ramblings were getting worse and worse. Arthur didn't have time for this. He reached out to get his pills back, but the man had other ideas. He threw the pills as far away as possible, they hit a gutter and got washed down with the dirty water.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Screamed Arthur.

"I SAVED YOU FROM THEM!" Screamed the man right back. "THEY POLLUTE YOUR MIND AND TURN YOU INTO SLAVES! THEY ARE EVIL! EVIL! MIGHT AS WELL BE MADE FROM THE DEVIL HAD THEY NOT BEEN MADE FROM A HUMAN!"

"You are insane." Hissed Arthur. "You belong in a mad house."

The man started giggling uncontrollably. "Oh they said the same thing back then too… Those sticky fingers and those metal probes… Those bastards used them to pick my mind apart… they use all kinds of methods to crush you… kill you… destroy your mind and if you let them they will… You can't let them, they are everywhere."

Suddenly the backdoor opened and a rather worried Matthew poked his head out. "Don't run off like that Gilbert." He quickly walked over to the white haired man and slowly pulled him to his feet, knocking off his hat by accident. Clumps of his hair were missing.

Arthur frowned a little and picked up the hat and gave it over to Matthew, but Gilbert quickly snatched it back and put it on his head. 'Don't trust him Birdie. He's a bad person. Not very bad, but becoming bad. Good, but not so good… Don't trust him. He's one of the people that did this to me. He hurt me.'

Matthew sighed a little and rubbed Gilbert's back. "You know that isn't true… What happened to you was horrible, but this man doesn't have anything to do with it." He looked over at Arthur and gave an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry about him. Mercury poisoning. H-his mind doesn't function normally… are you drooling on me again?" He sighed a little, but made no move to move the man's head from where it rested on his shoulder. "I'm really, really sorry…"

Arthur sighed a little. "Whatever… It's fine. Just… just take better care of him. That mad man shouldn't be allowed to wander around alone."

Matthew scowled at the Brit. "He's only mad because of what some people did to him. Before that he was a brilliant scientist… That's how things work down here… When the best can't function anymore they are swept under the rug and forgotten. Come on Gil, let's get away from him."

The mad man nodded a little. "Fine, fine, fine… They are all mad out there… mad as fucking hatters."

Arthur shook his head and returned to his search for the White Rabbit, though he knew it would be fruitless now. The man was probably long gone. He never should have talked to that crazy man. He turned a corner and froze, it seemed like the White Rabbit was waiting for him.

"You sure took your time." He said in a slightly mechanical voice. He sounded so different from before when he was singing. "Next time I won't stick around for so long."

Arthur glared at him and took his blade out. "Where is she?"

"She who?"

"The girl you took from her bed you sick bastard."

White Rabbit chuckled a little. "Oh that one. She's fine. Didn't you hear my song? That child is in a her own little world of lies. Then again, who isn't down here?" He leaned his head back against the wall. "That mad man, Gilbert… He really was a scientist. A brilliant one. He developed Alpha and Omega, but some people wanted to use it for evil… that and they saw the potential his brother had."

"What are you talking about?" Asked Arthur.

The White Rabbit shrugged as he turned from Arthur. "This place, although it is called Under London is the true London. What we see, what we face down here… This is the true face of London, if not the world. The stinking, benevolent, corrupt and deprived… This is what the world truly looks like."

"Don't walk away from me!" Snapped Arthur. "Tell me where she is, now!"

White Rabbit stopped walking and sighed a little. "Arthur… Do you know why they call me the White Rabbit? It's not just because of my mask… I lost my legs years ago because of those bastards… Those corrupt and insane bastards. Now I have no legs. All I have are these damned pressure powered springs. It does have its advantages though…" With the speed of a cat, the White Rabbit leapt into the air and landed on the roof of a building. "If you want the girl so badly, find me at her house. Have some keys."

He tossed a heavy iron key at Arthur, who easily caught it. The key had a checkers piece engraved into it and had three ribbons tied to it. One green, one white and one orange, though they all looked a little singed. He looked up to try and ask the White Rabbit what the key was form but he was gone.

'_Well blast it all. Where the bloody hell could he have gone?_' He didn't have much time to contemplate this before Alfred mad an appearance again.

"Hey dude! What's up?"

"I was so close…" Muttered Arthur. "I was so close as to finding out where that girl was… Now I have nothing."

Alfred rolled his eyes. "Dude, you don't have nothing. Look, you have a key to her house. I guess I didn't need to get all those lock picks after all."

"So that's what you were doing?"

"Yep." Said Alfred happily. "Now come on, let's get going."

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Well I hope you all liked this chapter. I will update soon. Please review.


	7. Checker's Mansion

**Shinigami-cat: **Hey everyone, I hope you all enjoy it… I OWN NOTHING!

**Checker's Mansion**

It didn't take long before Arthur and Alfred had made their way to the home of the leader of the Checker's gang. The high walls of the building were covered in vines so thick, it was impossible to see the bricks. For all Arthur knew, the walls were made from vines.

Alfred let out a long, low whistle. "Wow… Have any idea how to get in?"

"No bloody clue." Muttered Arthur. "You're the thief. Shouldn't you know how to get inside any building you desire?"

"Quite true." Said Alfred with a grin. "But you see… I have no desire to go into that building. You're on your own here."

"Well it's a good thing you have no desire to get into the Heart's territory." Snapped Arthur. "I'm not leaving until I speak with that woman."

"I warn you, she's as mad as a hatter." Said Alfred in a hush tone

Arthur frowned a little. "Speaking of hatters… What do you know about a man named Gilbert?"

Alfred pulled a face as he strained to remember. "Gilbert… albino, mercury poisoning, drools a lot when he stressed and extremely weak?" He shrugged. "Yeah, that's about all I know about him. I only know a handful of people in this place. I'm mainly just a guy that runs around and gets information and stuff."

"Well, who do you know in this place?"

"In Checker's territory I know all about the people here." He started to count them off on his fingers. "There's the loony's at the bar. That'd be Mattie, Luddy and Gilly… White Rabbit also comes by but he's all over the place."

Arthur nodded a little and started to look around the walls, trying to find a weak spot so he could get in. "Tell me about them."

"Why? So you can dig up all their secrets?" Asked Alfred. "You people are like spies."

"Well excuse me for trying to make polite conversation." Growled Arthur. He walked around a corner and started to inspect the weathered looking vines. They seemed easy enough to snap.

"I was being sarcastic dude." Whined Alfred. "Anyway, I've known Matthew for a long time… He's a sweet kid. Hardly ever makes a fuss about anything. Only time I ever saw him flip out was when he was trying to get Gilbert down from the rafters. Hell knows how he even got up there. Anyway, Matthew's really quiet, but if pushed he will beat the crap out of anyone who pisses him off. He's the kind to walk softly and carry a big stick."

Arthur didn't expect that from the small blond boy. He seemed much to timid. He didn't really care though. He was only half listening to Alfred anyway. "What about Ludwig?"

Alfred chuckled. "What to say about Ludwig… He's your typical big strong German. He usually throws out people when they've had too much to drink. More often than not though he just needs to glare and people start running. He also has a fondness for rabbit stew and has one hell of a temper."

"Sounds like a handful." Muttered Arthur. He crouched down and started to pick away some of the dried vines.

His blue eyed companion scoffed. "A handful? That's Gilbert. It doesn't matter if they barricade his door, he'll find a way out an annoy the fuck out of everyone. He's more of a danger to himself than to anyone else." He sighed a little. "Too bad too… I heard he was a genius. Even found some papers that back it up too… Too bad I can't read German. Could be worse I guess… Ludwig says he still tries to do experiments when he has moments of clarity."

Arthur had just managed to make a small hole in the vines and was attempting to make it bigger without it looking too suspicious. "Really? Very interesting. What do you know about the White Rabbit?"

"Musical master." Said Alfred. "He's also know for doing odd jobs for people. Not all are innocent though… He's a murderer, thief and never does anything unless there's something he can gain from it. You can't trust him with anything."

Arthur frowned a little. He already assumed as much from the White Rabbit. '_I guess I should practice caution around him from now on… He could easily turn around and stab me in the back. Makes me wonder why he gave me that key… Does it even open the doors to this mansion?_' He pondered this for a few moments longer before crawling through the hole he had made. Alfred quickly followed him.

They were in some kind of garden. Everything in this place was dead or dying, apart from the clumps of clovers that flourished in this place. It was surprising how everything looked. He was amazed that so much was alive. He would have to investigate that later.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Arthur sighed a little as he sat next to a rock in the garden. He always loved going outside and being surrounded by nature and its beauty, though he wished that they could do something about the weed problem. There were too many clovers in their garden and he hated it.

A girl, several years older than him sat by him. Her hair was red, done up in a pretty braid and tied off with a green, white and orange ribbon. Her freckled nose wrinkled a little as she smiled to herself. She seemed to be off in her own little world and Arthur was content with that.

"Hey, Arthur." She said, her Irish accent coming out as thick as honey. "Some say the clovers are hard to get rid of. A weed if you would, but they are lucky lads and lasses. Besides, who could hate such a small plant that has such cute little flowers?"

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Arthur shook his head a little to clear his thoughts. He didn't remember who that girl was or even what that garden place was. He needed to focus on the task at hand. Getting into the mansion. "I wonder where we can get in…"

He touched the key in his pocket and frowned a little. '_Key to the front door or the key to my destruction… I shouldn't trust him, but can I really trust Alfred either? He blackmailed me in the first place._'

Suddenly, Alfred pulled Arthur down behind a dried hedge and quickly pressed his hand over his mouth. Arthur tried to fight back, but the other was too strong. "Keep low." He whispered. "Steam Droids." He pointed up towards the house as he slowly let Arthur go.

Still unhappy that he got manhandled by such a brute, Arthur slowly sat up and looked over to where Alfred was pointing. There were two Steam Droids marching along a garden path. They were wearing red and black patchwork uniforms, resembling a checker board and they were carrying bayonets. They did not look like any kind of Steam Droids he had ever seen before. They must have been butchered and modified by someone.

"What on earth…?"

Alfred shrugged. "That's just how they are… Keep your head down. They can't detect things by sound, but they can sense when people move."

"Motion sensors?" Asked Arthur. "But those are only theoretical… How the hell could they have…? Even the agency is only in the early stages development…" He was dumbfounded.

"There's nothing theoretical about this lot." Muttered Alfred. "Though we should be safer once we get inside. Keep that vorpal blade handy. It'll come in useful… Until then." Alfred got up on his knees and pulled a gun out of his pocket. Without hesitation he fired two shots. He hit the Steam Droids in their mechanical heads, causing them both to stumble and fall over.

"Where did you get a gun?" Asked Arthur. He didn't feel at ease knowing that his companion had something so dangerous.

Alfred grinned at Arthur's slightly worried tone. "Dude, that's what I got from those people back at the pub. Tools of the trade and so on."

Arthur frowned at how easily Alfred brushed off an answer. He stood up and quickly looked around. There was no way the pair could go through the front door, a backdoor would have to do. More than likely they would find one to the kitchen. He didn't want to have to deal with the house staff, but if it was unavoidable, he would have no choice.

He quickly spotted a backdoor and made his way towards it. There didn't seem to be many Steam Droids patrolling the place, which was good, yet suspicious. Perhaps he was just finally having some kind of luck. Arthur would have been grateful for that.

Arthur slowly opened the door and looked inside. Once he justified that the coast was clear he entered. As he suspected the backdoor lead to the kitchen; pots and pans cluttered the place, an oven had something cooking in it, the sink was filled with dirty dishes and the slight stench of rotted food hung in the stale air.

'_What the hell? Where is everyone?_' Pondered Arthur. He looked around the kitchen, stopping to peer into the sink. There was a thick layer of fat on the now cool water that surrounded anything and everything that touched the green water. No one had washed anything in that sink in ages. '_Odd…_'

"This place smells worse than fresh vomit." Whined Alfred. "Why does it smell like rotting meat in here?"

"Rotting meat?" Asked Arthur. "I can't really smell it…"

"Do you have no sense of smell?" Cried his companion in shock.

Arthur shrugged. "I think there was an accident or something and I partially lost my ability to smell. It's not a big deal. It just means some smells don't affect me as much as others do."

Alfred pulled a face and leaned against a big industrial looking door. "Whatever. You can open the oven then. The smell is coming from in there."

Frowning, Arthur walked over to the oven and opened it. He could smell what Alfred was talking about now. The foul smell of rotten meat filled his nose. In the oven was something that looked like a fish covered in maggots and other crawling insects. He slammed the oven door closed and gagged a little. "There's something not right here."

"No shit!" Snapped Alfred. "We should leave here before something bad happens."

Arthur rolled his eyes. "We can't leave yet. I need to talk to the leader of the Checkers. You're free to leave any time though. I neither need nor want you here with me. I'm perfectly fine on my own."

"You're a dick." Muttered Alfred as he looked around the kitchen. "Okay, so we have rotten food and stuff in the sink… Where is everyone else though?"

"No clue." Said Arthur. "Maybe they were fired and left, but that wouldn't explain why the kitchen hands simply left in the middle of making a meal…"

Alfred frowned a little as he looked down at the floor. Suddenly his eyes went wide and his face turned as white as a ghost. "I think I know what happened to them…"

Arthur too looked down to see what Alfred meant. There was a dried trail of blood streaked across the floor and towards the door that Alfred was leaning against. The pair exchanged worried looks before Alfred opened up the door he was leaning against.

It was the door to a walk in freezer. Frozen meat hung from hooks from the roof and in the middle was a small pile of dead bodies, all in different styles of uniform, but all seemed to be staff working in the Checker's mansion. Their skin had turned a greyish blue and their eyes were all clouded and milky. Many of them had their heads split open and a thick frost had settled over them, indicating that they had been dead for a long time.

Alfred gaged a little and quickly turned away, shuddering. "I-I told you she was mad… Fucking crazy. You know why no one is allowed to see her? She's bat shit crazy insane. We need to get out of here!"

"No." Said Arthur sternly. "Something happened here and we should find out what it was."

"You saying that seeing those bodies had no effect on you at all?" Asked Alfred in shock.

"Why should it?" Asked Arthur calmly. "What is the difference between these dead people and the people walking around outside? We all end up dying eventually. Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust." He sighed a little and took his vorpal blade out. "Either way there is something rotten going on here. I'd love to speak with this woman about this…"

Alfred frowned and looked away. "This is a bad idea… Do you really need to see that person? It could… It could end horribly. You could die."

"I'm not afraid of getting killed." Arthur frowned a little and walked out of the kitchen. The halls were deserted and the objects around the hall were covered in thick dust. It didn't look like anyone had been in this place for a long, long time.

'_This place is just… What happened here? Is the leader even here anymore? Why would she?_' Wondered Arthur. '_How could things have gotten so bad? I wonder what would happen if the people out there knew about this… There might be panic._' He walked through hall, running his finger over a dust covered frame and let the dust fall to the floor.

"This place is messed up." Whined Alfred. "Do you… do you think that there are like… ghosts in here?"

"I don't believe in ghosts." Said Arthur quietly. "People believe in that rubbish to make up for all the nonsense in the world. Those stories are just used to change the state of mind of those dumb enough to hear them. Fairies on the other hand…"

"If you believe in them then you're a real wack job." Muttered Alfred.

Choosing to ignore Alfred's ignorant comments, Arthur continued to walk. "… It might be more beneficial for our situation if you waited outside. I might take a while."

"But I don't wanna…" Whined Alfred. He looked around a little. "Hey… if it's okay with you, can I actually look around this place myself? I want to see what's around…"

"So you can rob the place?" Asked Arthur, unamused.

"If everyone's dead it's not robbing the place is it?" Asked Alfred with a grin. "If no one lives here, which I doubt they would because it looks abandoned to me, I wouldn't be robbing anyone. I would be… liberating the valuables if you would. Material possessions are no used to anyone who's dead. Better to let the living do what they will with them, right?"

"Whatever." Muttered Arthur. "It doesn't bother me… Just watch out for the White Rabbit. He said he was going to meet me here or something… Pretty sure he was lying or something but you never know."

"Thanks for the warning." Said Alfred he turned and happily walked down the hall, gun in hand. "But he won't kill me if he has nothing to gain from it. He never does anything without a motive or profit. Why would he want hurt me, a thief? If he wants something I have I'd be more than happy to give it to him. My life may be miserable, but it's the only one I have. Best not to waste it."

Arthur rolled his eyes and kept walking in his direction away from Alfred. He didn't want to admit it, but the thief might be right. There may not have been anyone living in this house at all, yet there were Steam Droids. Modified Steam Droids. No one would leave those when and if they left.

'_Well… I guess they are just robots programed to do the same thing over and over again… I suppose it isn't too farfetched to think that they would continue their function even after they passed away, but where could she have gone? I-I don't understand…If I just had all the pieces I could figure it out._'

Arthur sighed in frustration. He couldn't think straight and he didn't understand why. He had been in much worse places than this. It was just an old abandoned house. He wasn't sure, but eh figured it had something to do with the fact that everything about the abandoned mansion seemed too sudden and abrupt. Even the quick and malicious deaths of the house staff seemed too quick, though the dead were not his concern.

"If she isn't here, than is the girl I'm meant to find with the other gang leaders?" Arthur muttered quietly to himself. He dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out the key. The burnt ribbon reminded him of something, but he couldn't remember what. It was a little nagging thought at the back of his mind, but he chose to ignore it.

After all, it was simply a key. A key White Rabbit gave him. That alone was grounds for suspicion. He should have just thrown the key away as soon as he gave it to him, but curiosity was a dangerous vice. Something he might sooner or later regret.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Well that was that chapter. I hope you all liked it. Please review


	8. Door to Madness

**Shinigami-cat: **Well here's the next chapter, I hope that you people out there actually like this story because the lack of feedback tells me otherwise… I OWN NOTHING!

**Door to Madness**

With Alfred looting the place, Arthur could explore the mansion at his leisure. Every door he came across he would check to see if it was lock, and if so did they key fit the lock? Every door so far was unlocked though. This was frustrating, but he could deal with it.

For the most part he followed the blood trails around the place and investigated the rooms where they had died. For the most part it seemed like they were killed in their beds, indicating they either died early morning or late at night.

'_Bloody hell… so many people… I just… I don't deal with these cases._' He thought bitterly. '_I hope that girl isn't dead… The bloody agency would have my head if she turned up dead._'

He followed a dried blood trail into yet another room. Inside was something different compared to the rest of the houses décor. It wasn't all red and black. The whole room was covered completely in metal. There were two desks in the room; one was covered in closed agar plates, microscopes and some odd looking scientific equipment and the other table had a simple desk lamp and a stack of aged, yellow papers.

Curious as to what the papers may contained, Arthur walked over to it and started to flip through the papers. Several of them were covered in blood, so they were impossible to read. Other's though were written in German and badly translated. Some sentences made sense, while others were just weird.

_Incubation for over a five hour period is enough to work. Anymore and the bacteria start to freak out. Turning the tables once reverses the affect. More concentrated doses make the affects last longer and will eventually have a permanent effect. Three pills cause seizures in small parts while an over dose causes seizures all over. Things can be reversed with a fungus._

Arthur frowned as he looked over a few more bits of paper. Nothing else really caught his interest. It was either too bloodied to read, written in German or very badly translated, all apart from the piece of paper at the bottom of the stack.

It was a small drawing of stage with its face scribbled out with some kind of red ink. "… A disturbed mind maybe? Looks like a child's drawing though." He folded it in half and put it in his pocket. He felt for some reason that the drawing might be important somehow.

With that he was done with the room and continued to look around the mansion. He checked every door to see if they were locked. Unsurprisingly none of them were locked.

He sighed a little, this search for any information about the whereabouts of the girl were coming up fruitless. He really needed to speak with that woman if she was really here.

He opened up the door to a room and looked inside. It seemed to be some kind of study and sitting within that room was White Rabbit. He hummed a little to himself as he flipped through a photo album. Every now and then he pulled out a picture and ripped it apart. "Every picture tells a story." He said calmly. "Sometimes we don't like the ending. Sometimes we don't understand it… Still, it doesn't make the whole ordeal any less entertaining."

"What are you doing here?" Asked Arthur. "Why did you want me here in this place?"

"You were going to come here anyway weren't you?" Asked White Rabbit. "You need to speak with her to find the girl."

Arthur's eyes narrowed as he gripped the handle of his vorpal blade tightly. "You spirited the child away, you tell me where she is. The sooner you do the sooner I can leave this wretched place."

White Rabbit looked at Arthur and tilted his head in confusion. "Why should I tell you? I have nothing to gain from telling you now."

"So you have something to gain from me running around blindly grasping at straws?"

White Rabbit shrugged and went back to ripping photos apart. "I guess so. You know you can put that butter knife away at any time. If I wanted you dead I would have snuck into your home and slit your throat days ago."

"So you really are a mad man." Muttered Arthur. "Only a mad man would plan his murders beforehand."

"There is only one mad person here." Said White Rabbit. "That key I gave you unlocks the door to their madness. If you want to see the leader of the Checkers you'll have to open the door to that madness." He put the photo album down and sighed a little. "Though, before you face her you must remember that madness is not just a state of mind. Take what you see with a grain of salt."

"Why should I believe a word you say?" Asked Arthur. "You've admitted to being a murderer and a kidnapper. For all I know you're simply herding me to my death, like livestock to slaughter."

White Rabbit chuckled and walked past Arthur. "You're right. You have no reason to trust me. I'm all that you say I am and more. You say therefore I am." He chuckled a little. "But if we're going by that logic, shouldn't you also be insane? Only the deranged and insane make their homes in this place… What's your madness?"

"I'm not mad." Hissed Arthur, his eyes locked onto the black plastic orbs of White Rabbit's mask. "A mad man hides behind a mask of lies or lies twisted into truths."

"Then by your logic even the Queen is bonkers." Said White Rabbit. He pushed open the doors and chuckled. "Arthur… I'm not here to hurt you, I'm simply a guide. I want to lead you to the places you need to go to survive… I'm like that annoying cat, but so much more helpful."

Arthur clutched his fists and started to shake with anger and fear. He had no idea how this man knew about Francis, but it was starting to really piss him off… and calling himself Arthur's ally really pushed him over the edge. "If you're helping me, what do you get out of it? You never help anyone without gaining something."

The White Rabbit stopped dead in his tracks as he contemplated what Arthur had said. "What do I gain? That is a good question. Figure it out for yourself. I have no time for you today." He turned and quickly dashed down the hall.

"… Odd fellow that White Rabbit." Muttered Arthur. He walked over to where White Rabbit was and looked through the torn up pictures on the floor. Most of them were of a little girl and her family. Their faces had been scratched out with some kind of sharp object. Maybe a letter opener. It didn't matter.

He opened up the photo album and picked up a photo of a family. All their faces had been scraped off. Curiously, he flipped the image over and read what was on the back. Everything had been scribbled out apart from one name. Mary.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

After his quick search of the study he went to see what else he could find. It didn't matter where he went, all the doors were unlocked and easy enough to open. There were no locked doors anywhere.

"This doesn't make any sense." Muttered Arthur in frustration. "The key doesn't even unlock a door does it? Be it opens up a blood chest or some draws or something…"

"Dude, long time no see." Said Alfred happily as he walked down the hall. "How's your search going?"

"Bloody useless." Said Arthur. "All I found was a child's drawing, a photo and White Rabbit yacking my ear off about useless things. What about you? Did you steal everything that wasn't nailed down?"

Alfred pouted a little. "Firstly, that's insulting. Secondly You have no idea how many lock picks I broke trying to get into this secret room. Five. I broke five of seven."

"What secret room?" Asked Arthur. He was all ears now. Perhaps this room was the key unlocked.

Alfred frowned a little. "It's this room hidden behind this big stupid painting of a stag with the Irish flag draped around it… It's kind of stupid, but those kind of secret rooms always seem to pop up in these kinds of houses."

"Where's the painting?"

"Master bedroom on the second floor."

Arthur nodded and started to head that way. "Thanks, Alfred. I'll be done here in a few minutes. You can wait for me outside if you wish. This won't take long."

It didn't take too long for him to find the master bedroom where the masterful stag picture was. The image was pulled slightly away from the wall, sowing a glimpse of the door that was behind it.

He pushed the stage image away so he could get a good look at the door himself. There was just a simple wooden door with a simple metal lock. He took the key out of his pocket and put it in the lock, turning the key. There was a small whirling noise and a click, signalling that the door had opened.

The room behind the painting was surprisingly larger than he expected; larger than the study, but covered in candles. Arthur didn't particularly like the smoky smell, but he could deal with it.

Sitting on a chair in the middle of the room was a woman sitting on a chair smoking a cigarette. She hummed softly to herself as she brushed some of her long red hair out of her face. Every now and then she would glace over at a rusty axe by her chair. Dried bloodstains covered it. The woman didn't even look up at Arthur when he entered.

Arthur frowned a little and pointed his vorpal blade at her. "Hello? Are you the leader of the Checkers?" The woman didn't move. She just sat there a muttered small words under her breath. This annoyed Arthur, so he spoke a little louder. "Excuse me! I asked you a question! Are you the leader of the Checkers or not?"

The woman finally looked over at Arthur and snarled at him. "What are you doing in my house? Get out and stay out! You're not my family! Not my brother!" She sighed sadly. "My brother… Little brother… He always did the cutest drawings… He drew me a stag once, but I was mean to him that day and he scribbled out the face…"

"Stag picture?" Muttered Arthur. He dug his hands into his pocket and pulled out the stag drawing he had picked up earlier. "Is this what you're after?" He held it out to the woman.

The woman looked at the image and snatched it from his hands. "That's the picture… good picture… He drew this for me before the accident. Such a sad fate… those doctors took him away."

"What doctors?" Asked Arthur. "Who took your brother away?"

The woman sighed sadly as she ran her fingers over the picture. "A mad doctor… A brunet man that smells too much like ink and olive oil. He was nothing but a home wrecker."

"Um yes… whatever." Muttered Arthur. "Are you the leader of the Checker's or not?"

"That I am." Said the woman as she fondly patted her picture over and over again. "Such a pretty picture…"

"Then… Were you the one that killed the house staff?"

"One was reporting back to the doctor." Muttered the woman. "I couldn't have that. He never let us be… After he decided he was going to snatch up my little brother he did away with the rest of us."

Arthur nodded a little. This woman was obviously delusional. "Tell me, was there a girl here? A young girl. I don't know her name or have a picture, but she was here, I know it. Tell me who she is and why she was kidnapped."

"No girl here." Muttered the woman. "Only broken memories."

"Damn it Mary!" Snapped Arthur. "Tell me who the girl was and why she was taken away! I'm done working with mad people! I have enough trouble making sense of what that damned frog babbles about! Give me a straight answer!"

The woman looked at Arthur in shock. "What's your name… and where did you get that knife?"

"My name is Arthur Kirkland and where I got my vorpal blade is none of your business." He snapped. "Where is the girl? Who has the girl? Was she taken from here to another hideaway? Is she with the Chess or the Cards? Where is she? Tell me where she is, Mary!"

The woman chuckled a little and shook her head. "You don't know your own mind, Arthur Kirkland. My younger brother… He was and is much like you, that is to say he would be like you if he wasn't dead to us because we are dead to him… The leader of the Cards and the Chess are cut from the same cloth as me, their sister."

"So the gangs have a blood tie?" Asked Arthur. "Then is it a vendetta against the girls whole family that brings you three to hire White Rabbit to execute your plans?"

"White Rabbit?" Asked the woman curiously. "None of us ever once used that mad man. If White Rabbit is involved in this he is not working for us I assure you that. All are deranged down here, but none are mad enough to force the rabbit to intervene. Why would we? What do we gain from bringing him into the mix of things." She dropped her cigarette to the floor and stamped it out.

Arthur cringed slightly when she did that, he couldn't help that he hated the smell of smoke with every fibre of his being. "Then you admit that someone was kidnapped?"

"You are delusional." Said the woman. "Why do you keep calling me Mary?"

"I never did."

"You've done it twice already."

"No I haven't."

"Yes you have." Said the woman. "Your eyes and ears are open but your mind is shut off from everything and because of that you do not understand the truth that's right in front of you."

"I don't have time for this you useless wretch!" Snapped Arthur in frustration. "Just tell me what I need to know and I'll leave you in peace you mad woman! Stop trying to change the subject and deflect from the information I want. Who is the girl and who has her?"

The woman shrugged. "I don't know. My brother would deal with those matters. I was just the one to make us appear more human. Give the people a home where they are welcome and they'll flock. It's a beautiful thing… My brothers did different trades… Illegal goods and scientific advancements and all that rubbish."

"Okay, but which brother knows about the girl?"

"How should I know?" Asked the woman. "They may be my next of kin but I never speak to them… Not anymore. Not after the accident. That accident…"

"Hey!" Snapped Arthur. "Stop getti9ng side tracked! Which brother is it?"

"I already said I do not know, nor do I care!" Snapped the woman. "What does it matter anyway? Was the stolen girl your next of kin? I think not!"

Arthur was done with her. He was done dancing around this woman's words. He walked right up to her, grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her violently. "TELL ME WHERE SHE IS! WHAT IS HER NAME? WHO HAD HER? WHY WAS SHE TAKEN? ANSWER ME MARY!

"THERE YOU GO CALLING ME MARY AGAIN!" Screamed the woman. "WHY DO YOU CALL ME THAT? WHY DO YOU CALL ME MARY?"

"JUST TELL ME WHAT I NEED TO KNOW YOU MISSERABLE, INSANE BITCH!"

He was suddenly pulled back and turned around. Alfred looked freaked out. "Dude, calm down!"

"Don't bloody tell me to calm down!" Snapped Arthur. I need to get information out of her!"

"I understand that." Said Alfred as calmly as possible. "But you can't get information from a burnt corpse!"

Arthur's eyes went wide. "A-a burnt corpse?" He looked back over at the woman he was screaming at moments ago and felt his blood turn to ice in his veins. Her body was not alive. It had been charred black and the clothes she wore only just clung to her body. He looked down at his hands and saw that they were coloured black with her burnt skin. "No…" He whispered. "She… she was alive… She was talking… she isn't dead… she… she can't be… Can she?"

The memories of burned bodies filled his head and danced to the song of wood crackling and children screaming. Flashes of red and orange flashed in front of his eyes. He heard Alfred call his name, but it sounded so distant now. That was the last thing he heard before he completely blacked out.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat:** Poor Arthur… please review.


	9. Back at the Pub

**Shinigami-cat: **Hey there everyone! I hope you all like this chapter… I OWN NOTHING!

**Back at the Pub**

After much struggling on Arthur's part, Alfred managed to get them both back to the pub. Ludwig was nice enough to provide a bed for Arthur while he calmed down. Alfred on the other hand was down at the bar nursing a pint of beer.

The pub was closed at the moment so no one was there. Alfred had to settle for the company of Matthew. The blue eyed man had just finished telling Matthew about what he and Arthur had found out. "Madder than mad this Arthur fellow is. After he started freaking out he kept babbling on about a girl called Mary and how he should have saved her." Muttered Alfred. "Still carrying on about her when I brought him over here."

Matthew sighed a little as he drank his tea. "Why do you follow that man around if he's so mad?"

"Why do you stay with Gilbert?" Shot back Alfred. "You know he's insane and going to wake up dead one morning. Why do you stay with him?"

The blond blushed a little and looked deep into his tea cup. "I fell in love with him long before he became completely insane. I'll stay with him no matter what. That's why I stay with him. Why do you stay with Arthur?"

Alfred chuckled a little. "Because he's fun and makes things entertaining. You should have seen him screaming and shaking that corpse like it was a real person."

"It was a real person." Corrected Matthew. "But she was burnt… How could she have been burnt to death if nothing around her was burnt too?"

"Simple." Said Alfred. "The body was burned in one location and set up in a different one… and we all know the guy that kills like that."

Matthew shuddered a little. "Why would the people that did that to Gilbert go after the leader of the Checkers? What do they have to gain?"

Alfred chuckled a little. "I'm working on a theory… to confirm this I need to check out everywhere else. Do you have any knowledge of the Duke and Dutches of Chess?"

Matthew hesitated a little. "They… From what I heard they are no longer… They can't be considered Duke or Dutches of Chess… From those that have managed to escape, they are known as the Duke and Dutches of Death… And between their disgusting eating habits and the dreadful working conditions they are all dying horribly."

"Shame." Muttered Alfred. "Poor unlucky bastards."

"Toris and Felix are still there." Said Matthew. "You should save them. They are your friends."

Alfred sighed a little and looked over at Matthew. "Are you lying to me or are they still there?"

"What do I have to gain from lying to you?" Asked Matthew calmly. He put down his tea cup and stood up. "Now if you excuse me, I have to check up on Gilbert…" He calmly walked upstairs and away from Alfred.

When Alfred was alone again he took a quick swing from his pint and chuckled a little. "Arthur… I wonder what's going on inside your head… Who is this Mary girl you keep screaming about?" He hummed a little and started to talk to himself in a sing-song voice. "Is she a sister or a lover? Your mother or your daughter? You poor sweet innocent thing, just a lamb lead to slaughter…"

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Mary smiled happily as she dragged Arthur along the winding hallway. "Come on lad." She cooed. "You're just so slow today. We need to be quick of we are going to get that short bread before the others."

"Mama said we're not allowed to get it until tomorrow…" Muttered Arthur. "She's get upset with us and scold us."

Mary rolled her eyes and let go of Arthur's hand. "If I'd known you were going to be this chicken I would have left you in your bed and gotten one of the others to come with me. You're not brave enough."

"I am too!" Whined Arthur. "I am brave! I can do it!"

The red head beamed at him and patted his head. "Good lad, let's go." She turned and quickly moved down the hall to the kitchen. Arthur quickly started to follow her, but he didn't seem to be able to keep up with her.

"W-wait up, Mary!" He called.

"Such a slow poke." Cooed the girl. He voice slowly started to become distorted and twisted. "Keep up and stay quiet. Mama and papa will scold us if they catch us." Arthur gulped a little and ran after her, reaching out to her, but she was always too far away for him to really catch.

As he continued to run after Mary he found it harder to breathe. He stopped running and stopped to splutter and cough. He stopped moving to catch his breath. He breathed deeply and started to hack horribly. His lungs and throat were burning. Something was wrong.

'_What the hell is all this?_' Though Arthur in a panic. He had felt this sensation a once before and it almost killed him. Fire. His eyes widened in fear. '_No… Mary's running right towards the fire!_'

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Arthur's eyes snapped open as he quickly jolted up and gasped for air. He coughed a few times before quickly looking around the room he was in. He had no memory of getting there, but he did remember his sister Mary.

"That's right…" He muttered quietly. "Mary went to try and wake mother… They burned to death together… Damn it. I need my pills." He reached into his pocket to grab the second bottle of Alpha pills he managed to buy earlier. All he got was a bloodied and from broken glass and a note.

_Hello there Arthur! I managed to spot you while that American shot a few Steam Droids. That guy seriously needs some shooting lessons. Anyway, being the cruel devil that I am I went through your pockets. I guess you fell over or something because you smashed a whole bottle of Alpha pills in here. Hope you didn't need them for anything important. If you want to meet up again I'll be hanging around Chess territory. Catch me if you can._

_With love, White Rabbit_

That note made Arthur's blood boil. "Bloody fantastic." He muttered in frustration. "Not only do I have to get more bloody pills, but now that psychopath is leaving me creepy notes. Damn him."

He carefully took the broken glass out of his pocket and put them into a waste basket near the bed he was currently sitting on. Once that was done he decided it would be best to figure out where the heck he was. He would have to worry about his memories and that infuriating rabbit later on..

Arthur cautiously got up and slowly walked towards the door. He slipped his hand under his clothes, relieved to find that he still had his vorpal blade, and clutched the knife's handle.

He slowly pushed open the door and frowned a little. He had an idea about where he was if the smell of alcohol meant anything, but he couldn't be too sure. He was looking down a darkened hallway that lead to a set of steps.

'… _Well if White Rabbit has kidnapped me he is piss poor at security. Then again it's more likely Alfred dragged me here._' He sighed a little and cautiously started to walk towards his escape.

He was almost there too, when suddenly a door opened and he got pulled inside. He landed on the ground with a thump, hitting his head against the ground. "Blast… what the hell?"

Standing above him was Gilbert. He didn't look right in the head, than again he didn't look all that well adjusted the last time he saw him anyway. "You're back…" Muttered Gilbert quietly, almost whispering.

"Yes I am…" Muttered Arthur. "What do you want?"

"You saw her didn't you?" He asked slowly. "The Leader of the Checkers? Did you find my notes?"

"… Your what?"

"My notes." Said Gilbert a little more firmly. "The people… the bastards that tried to kill me fucking gave my notes to them to manufacture Alpha and Omega by the fucking truck load. I want them back."

Arthur frowned a little, wondering what on earth the man was talking about. "Do you mean those badly translated German notes? I didn't even understand them. I thought they were just rubbish. I don't have them."

"RUBBISH?" Screamed Gilbert, spit started to fly from his mouth as he quickly got worked up into a rage. "THAT'S THREE FUCKING GENERATIONS OF WORK YOU FUCKER! MY VATER AND HIS VATER BEFORE HIM WERE ALL WORKING ON IT YOU LITTLE FUCK! YOU CAN NOT HAVE JUST LEFT THEM THERE FOR THE GREEDY HANDS OF THIEVES!"

"They were impossible to read!" Snapped Arthur. He quickly got to his feet, he did not want to be around this mad man a second longer.

Gilbert was absolutely shaking in anger now. "Those bastards…" He whispered. "They take the life's work of three people and split it up… letting everyone take a fucking piece of it for themselves… That bitch should just fucking die for taking it all away from me!"

Arthur frowned and pulled his vorpal blade out from his pocket. "Well she is dead. Her corpse was char grilled and propped up in a chair. She's not going to do anything and neither will her servants. They are all dead."

"Dead?" Muttered Gilbert slowly. "All dead… dead… dead… dead… So unfortunate… too unfortunate… That bitch deserved to be but in storage like the rest of the livestock at the Dunk and Dutches' home…" He sighed sadly and leaned against the wall. "Well I guess all I can do is burn the place to the ground to stop anyone else from touching my work. I'll never let anyone else use it for anything other than its true purpose…"

Arthur frowned slightly as he slowly edged towards the door. "What was their true purpose? Why was Alpha and Omega created?"

"To help people with PTSD." Muttered Gilbert. "Just think about it… a world where people don't have to have the horrible memories of killing people that they never knew… all the trouble that could be saved…" His eyes went dark and he punched the wall. "BUT THEN! THEN THE MONSTERS FUCKING FOUND OUT! PERVERTS GOT THEIR FUCKING HANDS ON IT AND WIPED THE MINDS OF THE ABUSED, THE LAW MAKERS TO FIX COURT CASES AND THE PEADOPHILES TO RAPE AND PROSTITUTE CHILDREN!"

'_Okay, he's lost it. He's ranting._' Thought Arthur bitterly. '_If he keeps going on like this I'll probably just knock him out and get going…_'

"EVERYONE OF THOSE BASTARDS SHOULD JUST DIE!" Screamed Gilbert. "EVERY LAST BLOODY ONE OF THEM! I HATE THEM ALL!"

Suddenly the door opened and Matthew walked in. He sighed a little and walked over to Gilbert. "Calm down Gil." He said quietly. "You look tired, let's get you into bed." He easily directed the albino back to bed and covered the man in a blanket. Gilbert didn't seem too thrilled about it, but he obeyed Matthew without hesitation. Once he was all settled in, Matthew grabbed Arthur by the arm and pulled him out of the room.

"Let go of me!" Snapped Arthur.

Matthew rolled his eyes and quickly made sure that the door was locked. "Why were you in there with him?"

"He pulled me in there!" Cried Arthur. "Then he started screaming and carrying on like a child! I have no idea what he's been going on about half the time!"

"What was he screaming about this time?" Asked Matthew sadly. "What did you say to set him off again?"

"He set himself off." Grumbled Arthur. "So I guess I was right in assuming I'm back at the pub?"

Matthew nodded. "Yeah… Alfred's waiting for you downstairs. He told me what happened there… I'm glad you're alright."

Arthur frowned a little. "Thanks… I guess." He turned and walked down to the pub floor. Ludwig was sweeping up some broken glass up in the corner of the room. Looking down at the actual bar though Alfred was sitting on a bar stool, drinking a beer. He sighed a little and walked over to the American. "Hey…"

Alfred looked up at Arthur and grinned happily. "Hey there Arthur. Sleep well?"

"Sleep well?" Muttered Arthur bitterly. "My mind has just been full of nothing but nightmares. I hate it."

"Were they about Mary?"

"How do you know about Mary?" Snapped Arthur.

"You wouldn't shut the hell up about her." Said Alfred simply. He took a small sip of his drink and sighed. "You kept screaming about how you should have saved her and how it was all your fault and how they all died because of you… So who was she? What was she to you?"

A shiver ran up Arthurs spine. "She was… I think she was my sister… I think she's part of the reason I take Omega pills. We need to pick up some more before we go to Chess territory."

"We can pick some up while we're there." Said Alfred with a grin. "They have a small chemist there, but they stock up on all kinds of things…" His grin faltered a little. "Besides we need to get there soon. Some of my friends didn't make it out before it became impossible to get in and out of."

"More thieves like yourself?" Asked Arthur. He didn't want to meet anymore criminals than he had to.

Arthur shook his head and quickly finished off his drink. "No way… Well okay Toris and Feliks were people smugglers and helped people get over the border. Mainly woman and children who were escaping their abusive lifestyles. That's what they say anyway."

"And you believed them?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Asked Alfred. "They have given me no reason to not trust them."

"I guess…" Muttered Arthur. He sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair. "Well, let's get going then. I don't want to waste any more time here than I have to."

Alfred chuckled and stood up. "Okay then. Let's get going. Later Ludwig, thanks for the pint."

Ludwig looked up at the pair and nodded. "No problem. Come back whenever you like. We'll always be here."

With that, Alfred pulled Arthur back out onto the streets on Under London with a silly grin on his face. Arthur just sighed a little. '_Always be here? In a hundred years no one will even remember we even existed… Only the lucky and unlucky few are remembered through time._' He shook his head, frowning. '_My mind is just doing nothing but thinking morbid thoughts these days._'

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat:** Well I hoped you all liked this chapter. Please review.


	10. Over the Wall

**Shinigami-cat: **Okay! Here's the next chapter, I hope you like it. Just a warning though, things take a very, very dark turn from here on in… I OWN NOTHING!

**Over the Wall**

"I thought you said it was a thick fog that blocked the Checker's territory from the Chess… not a bloody iron wall." Muttered Arthur.

Alfred shrugged. "Well… Is this going to be much of a challenge?"

The Brit felt like strangling the American right then and there. There was no way he could get past this reinforced wall without getting caught or failing horribly. '_How the heck are we going to get up and over there?_'

As he contemplated this he looked at the posters on the wall. They seemed relatively fresh. They hadn't started to fall of rip yet. All of them said the same thing though. Quarantine. It seemed like there was some kind outbreak in that place that called for this wall to be built. According to one of the posters on the wall it seemed like there was a minimum twenty year quarantine put in place.

This just raised more and more questions in Arthur's books. What kind of disease would cause the leader of the Chess to shut down all the boarders? How many years into the quarantine were they? Was it air born or water born? How many were dead?

Alfred hummed a little as he looked up and around at everything. "You know there isn't anything contagious behind that wall, right?"

"Then why put up the quarantine?" Asked Arthur. "They obviously didn't put it in place for fun."

"I'm not stupid." Muttered Alfred. "Anyway it's not a wall to keep people out. It's a wall to keep two people in…. Two fucked up people. The Duke and Dutches."

"I've heard of them." Muttered Arthur. "What's so bad about them?"

The American shook his head. "You'll find out later… It's best not to think about it though."

Arthur sighed a little. "Okay then… Now how to get in…"

"Oh I know!" Said Alfred suddenly. "If we like, had some rope and a hook we could get up an over the wall to-"

"How are we even going to get to the Card's territory?" Asked Arthur. "Isn't there like a lake or something between them? How are we going to get there?"

"No sweat." Said Alfred with a grin. "I got you covered. There's a small fishing company called Walrus 'n Carpenter. They can get us across or we can borrow a boat. Either way we are good."

"It's almost suspicious how you know all this…"

Alfred just shrugged it off and started to look through the piles of rubbish that surrounded the wall. "What can I say? I'm a man of this city. I know pretty much every place there is… I still find it kind of weird how the quarantine was put in place like… three months ago." He hummed a little a little as he walked along the wall, kicking things in the rubbish piles.

Arthur frowned a little as he went back to figuring this out. There had to be some way to get across. Suddenly there was a crashing noise, followed by a surprised cry by Alfred. Looking over at the American, Arthur could see that he had tripped over.

He rolled his eyes and walked over to the man. "Git." He muttered as he helped to pull him up. "You should be more careful."

Alfred chuckled nervously and unwound some rope that had tangled around his leg. "Sorry about that... Oh! We could probably use this to get over right? All we need is a hook." He started to pull at the rope in an attempt to get it unstuck for their use.

"Right…" Muttered Arthur. He turned and started to look for something they could use as a hook.

"Hey, I found an anchor!" Called Alfred happily.

"You found a what?" Asked Arthur in shock. He turned around and sure enough, Alfred was holding an anchor in his hands. "Where the bloody hell…? How did you…? Never mind. We have it now."

Alfred nodded in agreement and tied the rope to the anchor, humming happily. "Well at least we'll be able to get up and over really quickly." Once the anchor was secured, the American swung it around a few times and threw over the wall. Alfred gave the rope a few tugs and grinned happily. "Awesome. Let's get going then."

Without much warning, Alfred easily climbed up the rope like it was the easiest thing in the world for a man like himself to do. Shaking his head, Arthur reminded himself that Alfred was a thief. Climbing up ropes like this wouldn't have been a problem for him in the slightest.

He easily got to the top and sat on the wall. "Come on Arthur." He cooed. "I can't get down until you get up here."

The Brit rolled his eyes and climbed up the wall. He was a little slower than Alfred, but he got there eventually. Once he had climbed up he was surprised to see how metallic everything in Chess territory looked. All the buildings were metal, the floor was metal. Nothing seemed organic at all.

"Bloody hell…"

Alfred shrugged a little. "Chess territory is where all the industrial things are… Makes cleaning the blood off the floor much easier."

"What?!" Asked Arthur in shock.

Alfred chuckled and pulled the rope up and moved it so that it was over the other side. "Industrial accidents." He said simply. With that climbed down the rope, his feet made a clicking noise as they hit the metal floor. "Come on. Let's get going. I need to find some people."

Arthur rolled his eyes and climbed down after him. "So we're going to meet up with Feliks and Toris?"

"Yep." Said Alfred happily. "They shouldn't be too hard to find. They used to run a small shop called something along the lines of um… Dodo's Toy Emporium. I liked that place. It was a wonderful place…" He sighed sadly. "It's probably nothing now… a bloody mess maybe, but nothing else I guess." Arthur frowned at this. He wanted to know what Alfred mean, but wasn't sure if he did. Either way he would probably find out anyway.

The pair started to walk down the winding metal roads of the Chess territory. As the continued to walk, Arthur couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched. It was a chilling feeling really.

"You feel it too don't you?" Asked Alfred.

"Feel what?" Asked Arthur.

The American chuckled a little at Arthur's question. "The eyes… the eyes of the people peeking out of their windows. But they don't mean us any harm. They are just starving people, doing their best to survive down here and avoid the higher class of people… and the murderers that all like to snatch them up and take them away."

"Take them away?" The words slipped out of his mouth before he realized how stupid he sounded. What reason does a murderer need a victim? To murder them of course. They need something to torture and kill to satisfy their sick pleasures. Murderers were nothing but the scum of the earth in his opinion.

Alfred frowned. "This place has no organic life in it at all and there is little to no access to the other territories… What animal is easily available in this area, but would make you a monster if you ate it? It's a little dish called long pig."

The Brit frowned a little as he searched his mind for what on earth long pig was. He had heard it in passing from sailors who had travelled from the Caribbean.

The blue eyed man noticed that Arthur wasn't getting it, so he decided to spell it out for him. "Humans eat all the animals that they can, but there's one animal that's taboo in all customs… and when that day comes… when man consume their kin we will know that we are truly living in hell."

Arthur's eyes went wide with horror and realization. "My god…" He whispered. "The people here… Are they cannibals?"

"Most eat the fish and rats that eat their dead." Said Alfred calmly. "The Duke and Dutches though… The Duke is also known as the mad doctor. Obsessed with perfection and that woman… She's also known as the Scarlet bitch. They used to be normal, happy humans… then one day they snapped and the quarantine was put in place." Muttered Alfred. "No food coming in meant that people were running scared and looking for a new source of nutrition. When you're rich and powerful why bother looking for other food when the people below you are less than human?"

That thought made Arthur shudder horribly. "That's just… that's disgusting."

"Who cares?" Asked Alfred. "If you're starving and there's a dead person beside you, eat them. They don't need their body anymore."

"What the hell?" Snapped the Brit in shock. "Why would you even say such a thing? Eating another human that's just… Horrific!"

Alfred shrugged. "It's all a matter of perspective. If you are starving and have no food go and eat the dead man next to you… if that person is alive and you kill them… That's a different thing all together."

Arthur rolled his eyes. "So you're all for cannibalism as long as you don't kill the person for food?"

"Pretty much."

"You're sick."

Alfred chuckled a little. "Call me what you like, but that's just how I see it. You people from the higher social rung wouldn't understand the plight of these people."

"Well yeah, but to eat another human…"

"We don't live here so we don't have a real say about what's right and what's wrong." Said Alfred calmly. "It's like… Going to an ancient society like Rome and telling the emperors of the day that their laws on marriage were wrong. Just because they had fourteen year old girls married off to forty year old men doesn't mean we should judge them because we think differently."

"But that's disgusting!" Cried Arthur.

"Only because you grew up in a society that says it's wrong to marry a girl before she is around eighteen." Said Alfred with a smile. "This world is full of such strange and dishonest folk and things we do not understand. Yet this is our world, the world we made, therefore we must all adjust."

"This isn't the world I made." Muttered Arthur bitterly.

The American shrugged. "So? You're simply one small part of a much larger and malevolent machine that never stops turning. The people are the cogs and their actions are the steam that powers everything." He hummed a little. "Sometimes parts of the machine are replaced and made redundant and so are cut off or moved and rearranged. In the end though… we all go to hell before we can get to heaven…"

"I have no idea what you're talking about anymore." Muttered Arthur.

"Whatever. I'm just saying things now."

After that the pair walked in silence along the metal ground, stopping when they got to what looked like a town square. Though if anything it looked like a shrine to the gods or murder and wrath; body parts littered the streets, metal coloured a disgusting rusted brown and a fountain in the middle of it all pumping out thick red and black liquids.

"What happened here?" Whispered Arthur quietly.

"The feast of the insane massacre." Muttered Alfred. "Starved people in the streets fighting over the last scraps of food… the some people died in the panic, leading way for the others to say; Look at all the food we have been wasting. This lead to the massacre."

"It's disgusting." Muttered Arthur. "All of this… because of food?"

"The lack of food." Corrected the American. "While you and all your wealthy lot were dining on fruit and meat harvested by the working man, the ones you looked down upon ate each other to survive. There was never enough for them."

"Don't blame me for what these people did." Snapped Arthur. "I may be well off but I am in no way like the rest of that so called "proper" English society. I just do what I do to survive."

Alfred shrugged. He didn't seem to care at all for Arthur's defence. Instead he occupied himself with looking around at the dead and bloodied people scattered around the place. He could see some rodents nibbling on arms and legs. The site made his stomach turn. He was thankful he had nothing to throw up.

The sudden sound of a large creaking noise, followed by a blood curdling crunch of bone and a final death cry made Arthur jump. "W-what the bloody hell?"

Alfred pointed over towards a small cage made of bone. "A spring-powered traps. They catch small rats and sometimes people. They are worse than bear traps. If they don't kill you right away, you're bound to die from disease."

"This place…" Muttered Arthur bitterly. "Everything here is just wrong…"

"We are the scum of the Earth, Arthur." Said Alfred quietly. "We have no reason to live on the surface. We are not wanted. We are left to fester and rot away. Everything here is wrong because the people that are meant to help and reprimand us have turned a blind eye to us and left us to rot in the nightmare of a Wonderland."

Arthur sighed a little. He didn't believe that this was the truth, but he didn't believe that he should feel guilty for all this. He himself had an unpleasant childhood filled cold bitter nights alone with no mother to comfort him, not father to teach him and no siblings to get along with.

Then again, he did have a sister. He had Mary. He knew he had her. She was there for him along with others, way before he went to that orphanage. He did have a mother and father. A sister and brothers. He knew it, but he didn't. His childhood memories were strangers to him and left unsettling feelings in his guts.

'_My family… Everyone… I remember Mary and her damn smile and love for those bloody clovers… But everyone else?_' His head started to pound like there ungodly jackhammer knocking over and over again. It made him feel sick. '_Why? Why can't I remember them? How could I forget all about them? Why would I want to forget? Why?_' The headache was getting worse and worse. '_No… Why does it hurt to remember so much and yet so little? My family…_'

Alfred suddenly snapped his fingers in front of the Brits face, getting his attention. "Yo, you paying attention?"

"What?"

Alfred shrugged. "You just seemed really… out of it. There's no other way I can explain it… You looked a little ill."

"It's nothing." Muttered Arthur. "I'm just… I um… I was wondering where my friend went. I haven't seen that slimy frog for a while…"

"A slimy frog?"

"Yep. A slimy frog." Muttered Arthur. Now that he thought about it, Francis hadn't been around for a while. Maybe something had happened to him. If so, he didn't mind. That frog was probably still hanging around in the Checker's territory. Nothing to fret about. "So how far away is your friend's place?"

"Not too far." Asked Alfred happily. He started to walk down the side street, avoiding any large and fresh patches of thick, red blood puddles. "Just a hop, skip and a jump across the metal works. Easy as pie."

"Easy as pie…" Muttered Arthur. "Am I the only one who thinks this is bad idea?"

"What part?" Asked Alfred. "The going to see my friends or the going into a place full of hungry cannibals?"

"Both." Muttered Arthur. "This place is nothing more than a darker version of Hell."

"… You don't know what Hell is." Hissed Alfred darkly. It was almost uncharacteristic of him. "Anyway, chin up and all that stuff." He hummed happily as he kept moving. It caused a chill to travel down Arthur's spine. The American was one odd.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Well I hope you all liked this one. Please review.


	11. Rescue Plan

**Shinigami-cat: **Sorry this has taken so long to update. I blame all those damn assignments and my ability to procrastinate… I OWN NOTHING!

**Rescue Plan**

It didn't take Alfred too long to find Dodo's Toy Emporium. In Arthur's opinion the place was a rundown mess. The sign over the door was all scuffed, burnt and bloodied, the windows were shattered and the inside didn't look much better. '_… Are those two even alive?_'

Alfred sighed a little and walked through the broken door. "Hey, anyone in here? Toris? Feliks? Either of you still alive?"

Arthur frowned as he followed Alfred inside. The interior of this toy shop would have looked good in its prime, but now the whole place was just a burnt out mess. No one was there. Not anymore. It looked impossible for a human to live here.

"We should leave." Muttered Arthur. "This place is dead."

"So is a graveyard." Said Alfred. "Still see people moving around in there from time to time though." The American walked forwards a few paces before something large and metal with lots of jiggered teeth sprung out of the ground and clamped down on his leg. "SHIT!"

"Fuck!" Cried Arthur in shock. He quickly ran over to Alfred to see what he could do to help him, if he could do anything that is. He was shocked that Alfred wasn't screaming in pain even though his leg was bent at an off angle. In fact, there was no blood coming from his crippled leg at all. He just looked rather annoyed. "… Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Muttered Alfred. "My damn leg got broken, but apart from that I'm fine." He pried the jaws of the trap open and removed his leg. He pulled up his trouser leg to revel that he in fact had a prosthetic leg made from some kind of metal. Only one thing came to Arthur's mind when he saw it. White Rabbit.

"How did you get that?" Asked Arthur quietly.

Alfred sighed a little as he removed the useless metal. "I was born without legs. Ma and pa were upset about this, but they pulled through. Pa was a mechanic and he would make me legs in his spare time. Nothing too fancy. I can run a little and jump a bit. But I can't do it too often or they'll snap."

"I see… and how easy is it to get prosthetic legs here?"

"Not that hard." Said Alfred. "Though without my leg I'll be pretty useless." He looked around the burnt out place. "Do you think you could find me something like a stick to lean on?"

Arthur nodded and started to look around the shop. Nothing in there looked stable enough for Alfred to lean on. He walked over to a hardwood countertop. It wasn't burned that badly, so in theory, Arthur could use his vorpal blade to make something for Alfred to lean on, even if it was just for a little while. He took out his knife and started to cut through the wood. It was surprisingly easy, it was like Arthur was cutting through hot butter.

"… Do you know where you can get another leg or should I just abandon you?" Asked Arthur.

Alfred rolled his eyes. "Well, aren't you nice. Feliks and Toris make them from time to time. If we find either of them or some spare parts I can make another leg. It's pretty easy really."

Somehow, Arthur didn't fully believe him. He sighed a little and continued to cut the wood into the right size. It might have been a little too long, but it was close enough. Too big was much better than too small. With the wood cut, he walked back over at Alfred and gave it to him. "Here…"

Alfred grinned and happily accepted it. "Thanks. You're pretty good at this stuff. Who taught you how to do it?"

"No one." Said Arthur quietly. "I'm self-taught."

The American chuckled a little as he got up on his one good leg and hobbled along a little. "Well you're pretty damn good for someone who's self-taught… Now let's go down to the basement… If either of them are alive they'll be in there… plus that's where they keep all their stuff."

With a little difficulty, Alfred and Arthur found the basement and walked down the stairs. Alfred had slipped a few times, but Arthur was always there to catch him. "You need to be more careful."

"Dude, I'm just doing my best here." Whined Alfred. "It's not my fault a trap chomped off my leg." What they got to the door, Alfred slowly opened it and looked inside. "Yo! Feliks? Toris? Are either of you here?"

"Alfred?" Whispered a voice. "Is that, like you?" From the corner of the room a rather thin looking man stood up. He had straight, shoulder length blond hair, and green eyes. His clothes were too large for him, though they might have previously fit perfectly. He had lost too much weight. He looked relieved to see Alfred. "Like are you serious? I like so can't believe you're here."

The American grinned and hopped over to a box and sat down. "Well, that's me for you. I'm always around in the places you least expect." He too his backpack off and opened it. "I got you some food. Have as much as you want."

The man looked at Alfred with wide eyes before ripping the backpack out of his hands and absolutely scoffed down all the food he could. The sight both disgusted Arthur and disheartened him. He couldn't believe there were people like this living in England.

After a few minutes the man sighed contently and handed Alfred back his bag. "That was like, awesome. Toris and I haven't had real food in like… months."

Alfred smiled kindly and his friend. "Yeah, speaking of Toris, where is he?"

"… He's not here anymore."

"You mean he's… dead?" Asked Alfred quietly.

At his comment Feliks started to laugh. "Dead? I wish he was dead… But no, he like, totally got captured by that witch… He's better off dead than at their house."

Alfred gulped. "Oh man… That's bad… Dude, I'm so sorry…"

"Why is it so bad?" Asked Arthur. "Won't they just kill him or something?"

"Like, not in this case." Muttered Feliks. "She was muttering about how she like, needed a new cook."

'_A cook?_' Thought Arthur. '_As in… someone to prepare human meat? That… that's sick… I can't believe that they are forcing people to… I think I'm going to be sick…_'

Alfred frowned a little. "So Toris is working in their kitchen? I just… That's rough… How did he get caught?"

Feliks sighed sadly. "Well… Toris and I were going out and looking for food… We like, found where they were dumping their scraps and like, rats were eating it and stuff. Anyway, Toris like got caught in a trap and I was like about to get him down when she like totally appeared." Feliks smiled sadly. "Toris like, told me to run away because there's like no point in both of us getting killed…"

Alfred nodded. "I see… Where are the dumping grounds?"

"Just like, under the bridge near their house. All you like, need to do it jimmy open the door and you're like in their dungeon or like food storage. Whatever you want to call it." He sighed sadly. "Toris… He's probably dead by now… I don't know how he could possibly handle cutting up and cooking people for those insane assholes…"

Arthur felt sorry for Feliks and Toris, but it wasn't really his concern. He just needed to find the girl and leave this place. '_Damn it… We are wasting too much time… Is there even a chemist here?_'

"Don't worry dude." Said Alfred happily. "We'll save him."

"WHAT?" Cried Arthur in shock. "We are not going up against some cannibals just to save some guy!"

"Hey! That guy is my friend." Snapped Alfred. "I don't know how you do things up in London, but down here we actually help each other when we get into trouble… Speaking of which I need a new leg."

Feliks rolled his eyes and started to look through some old boxes. "You're like, so accident prone. I like told you that you aren't a superhero. Your legs are like not designed to hold under that pressure." He took a prosthetic leg out of a box and started to attach it to Alfred's stump. "It like had a little more spring in it than other ones because Toris was messing around with them. It'll take a while for you to get used to."

Alfred shrugged a little and stood up. He took a few steps, stumbling a little when because he a new spring in his step. "Dude… this is a little weird, but I can do it… I'm going to do a little bit of scouting. See the best way to get into the Duke and Dutches' place." With that he turned and quickly walked out, leaving Feliks alone with Arthur.

When they were alone, Feliks sighed a little and sat down. "So… What are you like, doing with Alfred?"

"Long story short, the bastard blackmailed me."

Feliks smiled a little. "Sounds like him… Do you like, have any business here?"

"Not really…" Muttered Alfred. "I just need to see the leader of the Chess."

"You'll never get through the front door." Said Feliks simply. "It's like, impossible to crack. You totally need the key to get in there."

"… And where would this key be?"

"Like, that guy broke it into two pieces and gave it to the Duke and Dutches." Said Feliks. He sighed a little. "I would like, so give anything to like be able to get in there… I bet there's like loads of canned food and stuff…"

Arthur couldn't help but feel a little annoyed. "So those two have it? Are you sure it's impossible to pick the lock?"

"Even Alfred can't pick that lock." Said Feliks. "It's like impossible." It seemed as though Alfred was quite a well-known thief, or at least his skills were well-known. Arthur wasn't sure if this was a good or bad thing. He decided to change the subject for a slightly better topic.

"So… What two pieces would that be? That key, I mean."

Feliks thought for a moment. "Let's see… There's like the handle part and the like, actual key part…" His expression suddenly became very serious. "If you're going to take the key parts from them you will have to kill them and make sure they are dead."

Arthur didn't like that serious look on Feliks' face. "What do you mean? Once someone's dead, they are dead."

"Some people have tried to kill the Duke." Said Feliks darkly. "A stab to the heart, but the psycho always manages to spin them around and bite out their throat. The Dutches is no better… She gutted some poor woman on the street one tame and ate her like a dog. When she was done everyone else picked at the scraps."

"Bloody hell." Muttered Arthur. He did not sign up to deal with this kind of thing. "Okay then… Kill the cannibals and make sure they are actually dead… I got it… What if they already killed your friend?"

Feliks frowned a little. "Then he's dead… We already agreed that if one of us like, died and stuff the other would try to keep on living."

_Hurry up and take him away asshole! We can't all die here! One of us has to stay alive damn it! It may as well be Arthur, you damn kilt wearing fool!_

A memory. A memory thick with a Welsh accent. He knew he had heard that voice somewhere before. He just didn't nowhere or if he even wanted to admit it at all. '_… Shit… I really need to get some more pills. I don't want to… I can't remember those things… I don't want to… I already remembered Mary, I don't need to remember anyone else from my old family. I'd much rather pretend I'm an orphan than remember the reason I became one in the first place!_'

Feliks frowned a little at the Brit's obvious and sudden agitation. Luckily for Arthur, Alfred reappeared with a silly grin on his face. "Okay dude. I have the place all sussed out. I have a pretty good idea how to get in and out of there as quickly as possible."

"Does your plan include killing the Duke and Dutches?" Asked Arthur.

"… No. It involves avoiding those nut bags and escaping with our lives." Said Alfred calmly. "Why? You want to take them out?"

"Pretty much." Muttered Arthur. "They are the only ones that have the key to get into the house of the Leader of Chess."

Alfred rolled his eyes a little. "Wonderful. I don't see how going up against two crazy cannibals that will rip us to death on the spot without hesitation could possible end with either of us getting killed or at least getting maimed in a horrible way."

Feliks chuckled a little. "You two are like, so weird… I hope you can at least free Toris…"

"Dude, I swear on my hero's that I will get Toris out of there." Said Alfred. "If Arthur wants to do something stupid he can, but I'm going to set out what I said I would do and help you man… I'll even get you both out of here. Is Walrus n' Carpenter still running?"

Feliks nodded. "Like yeah, but they have guns and stuff and shoot anyone who's dumb enough to try and take their stock."

Alfred nodded a little. "Okay, awesome. I can deal with that. You just wait here for a bit and we'll be right back with Toris." He grabbed Arthur by the arm and pulled him out of the basement. "Let's get going then."

Once out of the basement, Arthur sighed a little. "Look, I know you aren't thrilled about going and killing those people, but I need to see the leader of the Chess territory and-"

"I honestly don't care." Said Alfred lazily. "You can do whatever you please as long as I get what I want out of it you could bang a corpse for all I care or kill fifty million people. I just don't care at all."

"… You really are a selfish person." Muttered Arthur quietly.

"Huh?"

"Nothing… How long until we get there?"

"Few minutes." Said Alfred happily. "Soon we'll get Toris and you can stab and cut away to you murderous hearts content."

Arthur frowned a little at Alfred's comment. '_Does Alfred see me as a murderer?_'

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Hope you all liked that. Please review.


	12. Home of the Duke and Dutches

**Shinigami-cat: **Well… Here's the next chapter. I hope you all like it… I OWN NOTHING!

**Home of the Duke and Dutches**

After a few minutes of walking the pair had made their way to way looked like a lake of blood. Bodies and body parts bobbed in the thick red liquid as rats scurried over the rotting meat and gnawed at their meal. The site made Arthur's stomach turn.

"This place… What the hell is it?"

"Where the Duke and Dutches throw out their scraps." Said Alfred calmly. He chuckled a little. "Disgusting isn't it? Those bastards have the audacity to throw away whole bodies when they are full instead of storing the cuts of meat for later… Gluttony is such a deplorable sin…"

"Pretty sure cannibalism is a sin too…" Muttered Arthur.

Alfred shrugged as he side stepped the blood pool. "True, but when you got to eat you got to eat… It's just when you throw out perfectly good food that's the problem."

"So you're saying you wouldn't mind if someone butchered you and ate you as long as they didn't waist you at all?" Snapped Arthur.

The American pondered this notion for a moment. "Yep. Since I'm dead I would have no use for my body anymore. I'd rather it be useful than useless. You can eat pretty much every part of a human too. Fun fact, all offal tastes the same no matter what mammal it comes from." He chuckled a little. "It's weird how that works… one would think that the brains, kidneys, liver and sweetbreads of a sheep would taste different to something like a goose…"

"… I'd rather not think about it." Muttered Arthur. "This topic is making me physically ill."

Alfred chuckled a little and walked over to a rather fresh looking blood trail. "Sorry about that. It wasn't my intention…" He looked down at the blood and hummed a little. "Looks like something was dragged through here…"

Arthur nodded in agreement. "Yes… but it doesn't look like a body, the way the blood is moving it looks more like someone got a very large paintbrush and swept through it…"

"Like the tattered ends of a big red dress?" Asked Alfred.

"Huh?"

"The Dutches wears a big red dress." Said Alfred. "The ends are tattered and torn. It could easily make that stroke."

"I guess so…" Muttered Arthur. "So to find the entrance to their place we simply follow the blood trail?"

"That's the plan."

"Then lead the way."

Alfred grinned and did a fake salute. "Yes sir, captain."

As Alfred happily walked after the blood trail, Arthur let his mind slip back into unsettling thoughts. Most of which were about not about his current situation. Surprisingly or not so surprisingly they were about his own broken and fragment memories. '_Those people… Mary and that voice… Was that my brother? What happened? Why did I want to forget? I just… Why? What could have possibly been so terrible that I wanted to erase them all from my mind?_'

"Okay… That's one heavy looking door…" Muttered Alfred. Arthur frowned and looked at the door Alfred was talking about. It wasn't a very big door. It was a rather small, black iron door… covered in thick, red and brown, sticky blood. Some of it was still running down the door. Alfred just sighed and got out his lock picks. "Time to work my magic."

Once Alfred had managed to pick the lock he pulled open the door, the ungodly stench of rot and fresh kill poured out, making them both gag. "Damn it… There's no other way is there?"

"Not unless you want to ring on their doorbell and pray that they rip out your jugular first." Muttered Alfred.

Sighing the pair walked through the darkened door and into a dark, rust covered hallway. Dried blood. It had to be. What else could it be? After walking down the hallway for a few minutes it started to slant downwards slightly, towards another door. Once they got there, Alfred easily opened the door revelling what looked like a dungeon.

It made Arthur shudder. '_A dungeon… so they kept people here and would eat them when they were hungry._' His eyes went wide with realization. '_Then that makes this a pantry doesn't it? Shit…_'

Alfred hummed a little to himself as he walked past a couple of the cages that were stacked in a corner. "Hey there's a live one in here… He doesn't look like he's come from this side of the wall… he's too well fed and dressed."

Curiously, Arthur went over to see who this person was. To his shock this man had long wavy blond hair, blue eyes, a gas mask that covered the lower half of his face and he was sporting one hell of a bruise on his forehead. "Francis? What the bloody hell are you doing in here?"

Francis looked up at Arthur is shock. "Well… I fell in a hole and I ended up here. That Duke is crazy. What are you doing here?"

"Alfred is here to get Toris out."

The Frenchman nodded a little. "Toris… brown hair, green eyes?"

"That's him." Said Alfred with a grin. "Is he okay?"

The Frenchman shrugged. "Maybe. I'm not sure. When he turns up he just mutters words under his breath with tears in his eyes. I'm pretty sure he's saying he's sorry over and over again. Can't blame him either, he is cooking human meat."

That thought made Arthur's stomach turn a little. He couldn't blame Toris for being upset about butchering his own kind. If he had to, he probably wouldn't have the guts to do that. "I… I need to get some air.. I can't breathe in here anymore…"

"Understandable." Said Alfred. "If you want you can wait outside while I get him out. Francis can come and get you once I get him out."

"… Are you sure?"

Francis shrugged. "I'm good with that. Seriously Arthur, you look like you're going to vomit. It smells bad enough in here as it is."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Alfred watched as Arthur slowly left the dungeon area, hand over his mouth like he was going to be sick. When he was gone he looked down at Francis and grinned. "So… long time no see Francis. How do you know Arthur?"

The Frenchman shrugged. "We could be any number of things… Friends… Ex-lovers… Friends with benefits… The usual."

"That's a fucking lie and you know it." Said Alfred bluntly. "I know why you are here and what you are doing. I can tell you now it won't work."

"Whatever do you mean?" Asked Francis, faking hurt.

A feral grin stretched over Alfred's face as he kicked the cage. "If you want to kill a snake you cut off its head and the body will die! You don't stick a splinter under its scale! You're fucking useless and stupid! What tricks did you use to get that dumbass to trust every drop of poison that slips from your mouth?!"

Francis looked up at Alfred in shock for a few moments before he started to chuckle. "Snakes? Splinters? Tricks? I have no idea what you're talking about there, Alfred… I'm only here to serve a higher purpose."

Alfred couldn't trust Francis' words. He knew that the Frenchman was hiding something from him. Something important, maybe even something deadly. "A higher purpose? What the fuck do you think you are? Some motherfucking anti-hero? A judge? A god?"

The American could practically hear the smirk stretching across that despicable Frenchman's face under his mask. "I just want to watch those that do wrong drown in their blood as their bodies burn and turn to dust… Much like yourself really, but I know how to do it without mutilation… What do you want with Arthur?"

"That's none of your concern." Muttered Alfred. He was growing tired of this conversation. "I have your life in my hands. If you piss me off I will leave you here to die and come up with an ironclad story about how I couldn't save you in time. I made it quite clear to Arthur that I don't do anything but look after myself."

"You won't kill me." Said Francis happily. "If I die, then Arthur won't trust you. He will abandon you and continue on his merry way." He tapped his foot against the door. "Hurry up and let me out…" Alfred cursed his luck as he begrudgingly picked the lock and let Francis out. "Thank you."

Alfred glared at the Frenchman. "You have your freedom now get the fuck out of here before I drive lock pick through your fucking eye."

Francis chuckled a little as he made his way towards the door. "Okay, you win. I'll leave… But I was just wondering, are you planning to mutilate Arthur when you are done with him? Just like you have done with the other people working for that agency?"

A chill ran up Alfred's spine. "W-what? What are you talking about?"

"It's pretty easy to figure out who it was when you looked at the big picture." Said Francis. He turned around and looked at Alfred with a stone cold stare. "You want revenge… or maybe you're just a cold blooded murderer… You lure people to you with your smile and charm, but as soon as their back is turned you snap their necks and pull their bodies apart like the playthings they are."

"I-I have no idea what the hell you're talking about dude!" Cried Alfred in shock. "I-I' not a murderer! I-I've never killed anyone at all! I just… I'm just a thief! I'm not connected to any murders!"

Francis rolled his eyes. "Believe what you want to believe. Your mind, like everyone in this hellhole has been shattered into a thousand beautifully disturbed fragments of what you once were. You know what I'm talking about don't you?"

"Not one clue."

"Shame…" Muttered Francis sadly. "You would have been much more fun if you remembered… Oh well, I must be off. The Duke and Dutches will want their lunch soon and I don't plan to be on the menu. I'll send Arthur back in… Just remember, if you kill Arthur I will happily gut you and skin you like a hog." With that the Frenchman left, leaving Alfred angry and confused.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Arthur was glad he had gotten out of that place. No sooner had he stepped foot back onto that metallic street did he vomit. He felt mildly better for doing so. '_That place… a pantry for people? They store them in cages, kill them and take them to the kitchen to get turned into stake… Why? Why is this place so screwed up?_'

He contemplated this until Francis came out to get him. He gently patted Arthur's back. "Alfred's waiting for you. I suggest you don't let your guard down in there… it's a hell hole."

"So you're not staying?" Asked Arthur.

Francis shrugged. "I have no intention of going back there… that Duke has one hell of a punch… A word of advice, stay away for the Dutches' baby and don't touch the Duke's work. I don't know what they are doing in there, but whatever it is you shouldn't hate them for it."

"What? They are murdering cannibals! Why should I hate them?"

Francis chuckled a little and happily walked away. "They may be mad, but one must ask themselves, who was the one that caused their madness? Which one is the culprit? Who caused them to lose their sanity?"

A chill ran down Arthur's spine. "So you're saying someone turned them into cannibals? It was deliberate and not just the fact that this place was cut off from the rest of the world?"

"No clue." Said Francis. "It's only speculation… Now hurry along little rabbit. Alfred is waiting for you." The Frenchman hummed a little to himself as he happily walked around a corner and out of sight.

"… Weirdo." Muttered Arthur. He, reluctantly, returned to that disgusting place where Alfred was waiting. He smiled a little at Arthur and gestured to a large door at the other end of the room.

"I'm guessing it goes to the kitchen or something… Smells like something's cooking in there."

Arthur gulped a little. "Okay…"

Slowly Alfred pushed open the door and grinned. "Toris!"

"Huh?" Squeaked a voice from the other room. Arthur quickly walked into the other room and looked inside. Alfred was right, it was a kitchen. A rather large one too at that. The original wall paint of the place seemed to be some kind of yellow, but over time it had been coloured a bloody and copper red colour.

Alfred and picking a thick metal lock around a young man's neck. Said young man had shoulder length brown hair and green eyes. He was covered in dry blood and wearing a white coat covered in thick amounts of blood. He was shaking horribly.

"Don't worry about those people anymore…" Muttered Alfred. "Once you're free I'll take you back to Feliks. He's really worried about you…"

Toris nodded a little. "Sure… What are you doing here?"

"I'm saving your life." Said Alfred. "Oh and Arthur's helping too. He's a friend of mine."

"Oh…" Whispered Toris quietly. He sounded dead and distant. "They will be coming back soon… it's almost lunch time. They won't be happy when they find out there's nothing to eat and I'm gone…"

Alfred sighed a little. "I know… but I'll get you back to Feliks and everything is going to be okay… You'll be safe back there. Feliks will take care of you and everything will be okay, I promise."

"… They made me cook people."

"You were forced." Said Arthur. "You had no choice in the matter. You can't blame yourself."

Toris looked blankly at his hands, they were caked with dry blood. "I had to kill them… I cut them up and turned them into food… I'm a monster…"

"You're not a monster." Said Alfred sternly. "Come on. Let's get you out of here… I'll see you after you killed them, Arthur."

Arthur nodded in agreement. "Sure."

"Kill them?" Asked Toris. "The Duke and Dutches? Arthur's going to kill them?"

"That I am." Said Arthur calmly. "Have any advice on how to do it?"

Toris thought for a moment. "The Dutches is most off guard when she's tending to her baby and the Duke… he's obsessed with beauty and perfection. He's obsessed with the perfect sound… He has a room full of instruments. If you're not quiet he will kill you… but he'll torture you first. Just to hear your screams before you die… He thinks it's the most perfect music."

"Sick bastards." Muttered Alfred. "Oh well. I'll get him home now. Good luck Arthur. You'll need it." He picked Toris up and slung him over his shoulder.

Arthur nodded a little. "Okay then… I guess there's nothing to go now but get to work…" He grabbed his vorpal blade and exited the kitchen.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Hope you all liked this chapter. In the next one the identity of the Duke and Dutches is revelled, but I think it's pretty obvious who it is.


	13. Mad House

**Shinigami-cat: **Well I hope you're all ready for this chapter… I OWN NOTHING!

**Mad House**

Arthur left the kitchen and entered a long hallway in the house. It looked rather beautiful and normal in most aspects, apart from the blood all over the walls and the floor. '_These people… What atrocities have they committed in this place?_'

He decided not to think much about it, instead he decided to try and keep close to the shadows as he went about looking for them. Those people had to be around here somewhere and he'd be damned if he didn't find them. If he didn't get to them soon the girl he was trying to find might get killed, if she wasn't already.

He couldn't bear the thought of going through all this only to find out that the girl had already been killed by someone. He prided himself on never failing a mission given to him by the agency.

He sighed a little and walked into a room, softly closing the door behind him. No one was in this room. It was pretty empty, just a few draws and a couple of draws and boxes scattered around the place.

Curiously, Arthur had a quick look through the drawers. He didn't find much. Just a few scraps of paper. One scrap had the words "Delta" written twice on it. One under the other. On another other bit of paper were letters and numbers; A-404 and B-211. He had no idea what any of it meant. He put the bits of paper in his pocket in case he found out what they were later.

Deeming that the room was no longer important, Arthur left the room and continued on his search for the keepers of the key. He walked down the hall, staying close to the wall. After a few minutes he heard something that sounded like footsteps.

When he got close to the source of the sound, Arthur crouched down and peeked around the wall. There was a woman gently swaying from foot to foot, cradling a bundle of cloth in her arms. She would have looked like a perfectly normal mother, if her Victorian gown wasn't coloured red with blood. This woman had to be the Dutches.

"Are you sleepy my precious?" She asked the bundle happily. "Do you need to be changed? Perhaps you're hungry? Well, we'll need to speak to the cook about that. You need to start on solid food now. Maybe you mummy and daddy can get their lunch too." She hummed happily as she walked away from Arthur.

The Brit shivered a little from his hiding spot. '_They are turning that baby into a cannibal like them… Fuck I need to get that child out of here too don't I?_' He wondered what he was going to do with a baby, or if he could even protect it. His best plan of action would be to kill the Duke then get rid of the Dutches.

He started to make his way down the hell when he heard the Dutches Shriek. "HE'S GONE! SOMEONE'S STOLEN OUR COOK!"

"Bollox." Hissed Arthur. He quickly moved into another room and quickly hid in that place. This room had broken bits of furniture in it. He hid in the far corner, behind a small cabinet. As he waited for the hysterical woman to calm down and pass by, Arthur started to draw his plan of attack in the dirt of the floor with his finger.

He would need to find where the Duke kept his instruments and kill him when he was distracted. He hoped to cut off the man's head while he was distracted, if that failed he would have to stab him into submission and then kill him. The plan was about the same for the Dutches, but he would have to kill her while she was distracted with her baby.

He didn't like that thought though. He didn't want to kill a child's mother right in front of them. He would have to wait until the Dutches had put the child down in its crib. Then he had to wonder who would be able to keep the infant or if they would even want to keep it. It was the child of these people's oppressors. He would have to worry about that later.

Once he believed that he was safe enough, he left the room and continued on his way to find the Duke. He decided to follow the bloodied footprints assuming that they would belong to the Duke, while the more sweeping blood strokes on the floor would have belonged to the Dutches.

Whenever he heard a sound, he would quickly duck into a room or into the shadows in case they spotted him and tried to kill him in some horrible way. Eventually through his searching he was able to find what looked like a grand dining room.

Well it would have looked grand back in its prime, but now it looked like a waste land. Bowls of long ago rotted fruit lay amongst scattered bones, rotten meat and dirty dishes. The whole display was rather grotesque and made Arthur's stomach turn. The only good thing about this whole ordeal was that everything was so rotten it almost didn't have a smell anymore.

'_I need to get out of here…_' Thought Arthur. He could feel his stomach quiver a little. He exited the hallway and entered some kind of decadent front room filled with lavished status, broken in some places, a large marble staircase that lead upstairs to the second floor. Hanging under these marble steps was a large painting. Curious as to what it was, Arthur walked over to it to have a closer look.

The painting looked rather gruesome. It was painted in the Baroque style; lots of dark colours with realistic figures that were often twisting in agony. This one was no exception. All this painting was, was a pile of dead bodies in different stages of decay. The freshest kills at the top and the most rotted and decayed at the bottom.

'_Why the hell would anyone want something like this in there house?_' Wondered Arthur in disgust. It was a gruesome image, and to have it on display in such a place… it made Arthur's head spin.

He looked down to see a small plaque down the bottom of the picture. Curious as to what it might detail, Arthur decided to read it;

"_Sword and crown are worthless here. I invite everybody to dance;  
__Labourers, lawyers, church and gown all make their little prance.  
__This life is full of random death; and heaps of grief and shame.  
__So few are soothed by 'accident'; you want someone to blame.  
__Fire, plague and strange disease;  
__Drowned, murdered, or if you please,  
__A long fall down the basement stairs;  
__None are expected, no-one cares.  
__I often must work very hard; sweat running down my skin.  
__After the dance, I then must rest; and the eating can begin._"

Arthur frowned after reading that darkened poem. He was about to turn and walk away, that was until he saw the shadow of a man standing next to him. "Time to eat…" Growled the man. He raised something into the air and cackled. "All have the right to be eaten!"

Arthur jumped out of the way, just in time to see hatchet smash the plaque. He quickly glanced at the man and glared at him. He was wearing fine aristocrat clothing, but it was all bloodied and torn. The man's glasses were even missing a lens. His facial expression was something different though. It looked way too calm for someone dressed like that. This man had to be the Duke.

"Sorry chap, but I'm not on the menu." Hissed Arthur. He quickly turned and ran down the hallway. He needed to get far away from that crazed man.

"ELIZAVETA!" Screamed the Duke. "FRESH GAME IS IN THE HOUSE!"

"Shit…" Hissed Arthur. He didn't need this. He quickly ducked into a room and in amongst some of the boxes that cluttered that place. It was dusty and it irritated his eyes and throat, but he could deal with it. He just needed to stay quiet.

The Duke entered. "Where are you?" He called. "Come on out…"

"Why are you making so much noise?" Snapped the Dutches, Elizaveta, angrily. "I just got the baby to sleep and you start screaming about game in the house? What's wrong with you Roderich?"

The Duke, Roderich, frowned a little at the woman. "Wasn't it you before that was screaming about our cook running away?"

"Your locks are shit!" Snapped Elizaveta. "You need to get something better or more of them will run away and I'll have to find some other lock and where the hell am I going to get those locks, Roderich? Where?"

"Don't yell at me about that!" Snapped Roderich. "I didn't catch that one! He must have gotten in here somehow and freed out cook!" Arthur decided to use their arguing to his advantage. With cat-like tread he slowly started to make his way around the boxes to try and find some kind of escape.

"Well that never would have happened if the lock on his neck was tighter!"

"How did they get in here then?" Snapped Roderich. "Was the back door locked? Of course not! They wouldn't have gotten in if you had locked it!"

"LOCKED IT?" Screamed Elizaveta. "OF COURSE I LOCKED IT! I'M NOT STUPID!" She sighed a little. "I'll leave it to you to find him… I need make sure the baby hasn't woken up because of all your useless screaming. Call me if you need any help." She turned around and left the room.

"Always yelling…" Muttered Roderich as he started to search through the boxes for Arthur. "Always yelling about something or another. She has such a beautiful voice… very beautiful… So pretty. It rings in my ears… It's better than Mozart or Beethoven…"

'_You're a fucking psycho and a sadist._' Thought Arthur bitterly as he slowly moved around the room. He either wanted to escape or behead Roderich now and steal his part of the key. Seeing as how Roderich still had his hatchet with him, he wanted to play it safe and wait till that monster was disarmed or too absorbed in what he was doing.

He managed to sneak past the cannibal and back into the hallway. Now that they both knew he was in here he would have to be even more careful than he had been before. If he made too much noise he would give himself away, and he sure as hell didn't feel like becoming a meal for those two.

He made his way back to the room with the painting . Arthur wanted to see what was upstairs. Hopefully he could find something. Arthur quickly made his way up the stairs, hearing angry footsteps. Roderich must have been done with the room and was out to get him. He would need to make a trap.

He walked up the hallway and turned into a room, gently closing the door. This room was filled with different kinds of instruments. It was rather spectacular, but like everything in this damned house it had blood all over it. "Disgusting…"

"I think it looks pretty cool." Said White Rabbit.

Arthur almost jumped out of his skin. "When the bloody hell did you get here?"

White Rabbit chuckled and held a finger up to his lips. "Keep quiet. You don't want Roderich or Elizaveta to hear us do you? If they hear us they'll eat us alive."

"Why do you sound too happy about that?"

"Because I'm a sick bastard." Said White Rabbit. He sat down at the piano and chuckled a little. "My oh my… these people are rather sick individuals aren't they? Though you can't blame them for their behaviour…"

"You're defending them?" Hissed Arthur. "Why would you do that?"

He shrugged. "Why do anything these days?"

Arthur frowned a little. "Look, I need to get the bloody key that those cannibals have. Seeing as how they won't just pass them over I need to kill them. So you can either help me or piss off!"

"Sure, I'll help." Said White Rabbit happily. "You hide and I shall lure. I've got nothing better to do anyway."

"Doesn't mean I want you help." Snapped Arthur. "You only turn up to cause me misery! Get lost!"

"But I just wanted to help you." Cooed the White Rabbit. "While those two are alive I don't have much to do."

"They why don't you kill them yourself?"

"Have no need to. They are annoying, but not so annoying that I myself would kill them."

"… You make no sense. How did you get in here anyway?"

The White Rabbit chuckled. "That American guy with that little brunet guy didn't lock the back door. I saw you and the American walk in but I didn't see you come out with him. I could only assume that you were still in here and I was right… You're in trouble now though."

"Tell me about it." Muttered Arthur. "That bloody bitch discovered I freed the cook and that bastard actually found me! Now they are both after my head!"

"Well you do have one advantage over those two…"

"What?"

"Me."

Arthur looked at White Rabbit in disbelief. He didn't understand why that man was helping him now. He chuckled darkly. "What are you? Are you a hindrance or a help? An idiot or a practiced fool? I thought you are just here to block my way and distract me from my mission… To kill me even after you've had your fun. Why are you tormenting me now?"

"Weren't you the one that sought me out first?" Asked White Rabbit. "You went looking for me and you were still looking for me, but are you looking for the right thing?"

"What the hell are you on about?"

The White Rabbit waved him off and ghosted his fingers over the keys of the piano. "My dear, sweet, foolish Englishman… I can't believe how stupid you are sometimes. You should learn not to look a gift horse in the mouth. I'm helping you because I'm curious as to what's going to happen…"

"Happen?"

"If you fuck up and get eaten I don't give a shit. After all you did say that I am meant to kill you, so less work for me. If you kill them then I can loot the place. It's a win, win situation for me… So let's work together and have some fun killing people."

"You take pleasure in killing people?" Asked Arthur is disgust.

White Rabbit shrugged. "Wouldn't you take pleasure in killing me, the Duke and Dutches or some other unrighteous person?" He cracked his fingers and started to play a little bit of Beethoven. "I suggest you quickly find a hiding spot. Roderich never likes it when someone messed with his piano."

"What the bloody hell?" Snapped Arthur. "Why are you bringing him here?"

"So you can chop off his head and do whatever else you need to." Said White Rabbit like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Now run along and hide."

Arthur frowned and quickly hid behind some drums near the door. As long as only Roderich came in everything would be okay. If Elizaveta was with him, Arthur would be stuffed.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Yes, I am leaving it there. Mwahahahahaha. Please review.


	14. CJD

**Shinigami-cat: **Well let's see how Arthur fairs with all this drama… I OWN NOTHING!

**CJD**

White Rabbit hummed happily to himself as he played ever so elegantly on the piano. Over and over again he played the notes as Arthur crouched in waiting. After a few moments footsteps could be heard getting closer and closer. Eventually, Roderich entered the room carrying his hatchet.

"… What's a rabbit doing here?" He muttered darkly.

"Playing the piano." Said White Rabbit with a dark chuckle. "What else would I be doing? How are you Roderich? Long-time no see…"

The brunet scowled and closed the door, locking it. "I don't remember you… I don't know you…" He slowly started to walk towards White Rabbit, a feral smirk plastered to his face. "I want to cut your ears off… I want to cut them off now!"

White Rabbit chuckled and casually picked up the bow from a violin. "Your mind is long gone isn't it? I bet you don't even know what you're doing anymore…" He glanced over to where Arthur was hiding, signalling for him to make his move. Arthur slowly got up and walked silently towards the Duke.

Roderich chuckled darkly. "You're fucking dead."

White Rabbit hummed a little and picked up the violin. He started to play a little. "Close, but no… NOW!"

Arthur stabbed Roderich in the back, right in his spine. This caused him to cry out in sock and pain as he became penalized from the waist down, making him fall to the floor. After that, Arthur quickly grabbed the mad man by the back of the head and cut off his head, severing it from the body. Amidst the blood pool, Arthur saw part of a rusted key and picked it up. He was halfway there.

"… What was the point in playing the violin?"

White Rabbit put the instrument down and walked over to inspect the body. "What can I say? I thought it was appropriate… with his imminent demise and all…" He crouched down and started to go through the pockets of the deceased man.

While he did this, Arthur looked over the key piece he had gotten. It was the handle part of the key, meaning that Elizaveta had the actual key part. He pocketed it and sighed a little. '_Now… how to get rid of that woman and save that child of theirs… there is still hope for it._'

"Hey have a look at this." White Rabbit was holding up Roderich's exposed arm, revealing a simple, black tattoo.

Arthur looked at the tattoo on Roderich's wrist and frowned. It said Delta B-211. "… I've seen this somewhere before." Said Arthur. He took the scraps of paper put of his pocket. He placed the pieces side by side and frowned. Together they said Delta A-404 and Delta B-211.

"Looks like some kind of manufacturing thing." Muttered White Rabbit.

"What?"

White Rabbit shrugged and pointed to the paper. "Okay, Delta would be the type it is, B is a subsection and 211 would be the number is was. In other words this guy was a Delta model, type B, number 211."

Arthur frowned a little. "Are you suggesting that these people are… man made?"

White Rabbit laughed. "Do you need the talk? When a mother and a father love each other very much they get in bed and the guy sticks his-"

"Bloody smart ass!" Hissed Arthur. "You know what I mean!"

"Yeah." Chuckled the White Rabbit. "But no, I think we're just dealing with some really messed up people…" He picked up Roderich's head and hummed a little. "Could you split his skull open for me?"

Arthur was horrified. "What?"

"Never mind." He sighed. "I'll do it myself." He crouched down and started to hit the dead man's head against the ground until it split open. Once split open, White Rabbit pulled fragments of bone, skin and hair away until the brain was exposed. "Just as I thought…" Muttered White Rabbit.

"What is it?" Asked Arthur curiously. He wondered what on earth this man had found inside that psycho's head.

White Rabbit chuckled darkly. "Every heard of mad cow disease? This guy's brain is a sponge! Look!" He showed Arthur the exposed part of Roderich's brain. It didn't look like a normal brain would, it looked too pours, like a sponge.

"… That's not mad cow disease." Muttered Arthur. "It's Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease… Similar to mad cow, but it's a human strain… You can only get it by eating other people's brains…"

White Rabbit shrugged and tossed the head to the side. "Same shit… So it looks like these guys are fucking nuts because of that. I was right. I should be a detective."

"What agency would take you." Muttered Arthur. "Okay, so taking all that into account, what does it all mean?"

"No clue." Said White Rabbit. "I'm not a detective. Anyway we have a woman to kill." Arthur nodded a little and followed White Rabbit. If they both had CJD it would be bad for everyone. Though it would explain their bazar behaviour and why the area was blocked off. Though, it still didn't explain why the their house wasn't simply quarantined instead. These would be questions he would have to ask the leader of Chess.

"… How long have you known these two?" Asked Arthur.

"Hmm?"

"You said that you knew Roderich." Said Arthur. "When and where did you know him from?"

White Rabbit sighed a little and looked away. "I knew both him and Liz before they turned into these things… They used to be nice people, but then they became monsters. I know neither of them wanted this, so I want them to die. If they are dead they won't have to keep suffering and other's won't suffer at their hands…"

"You know a lot of people here, don't you?"

"That's what I do." Said White Rabbit. "I am simply the guy that knows everyone and everything and then when and where to go… Does this mean we're calling a truce?"

"Why would we need to call a truce?" Asked Arthur.

White Rabbit chuckled. "You want information from me and I'm not giving it to you. Simple as that… I say we work together until the bitch is dead."

"I thought you said you were friends with those two." Said Arthur. "How can you call her a bitch?"

"Never said they were my friends." Said White Rabbit casually. "I just said I knew them. People like me don't have friends. We have associates and colleagues. Never any friends. Friends only get us into trouble."

Arthur shook his head. He didn't understand the White Rabbit at all. With a small sigh the pair continued their walk down the hall on the second floor. As they walked, White Rabbit hummed a little to himself. "What are you so damn happy about?"

"Nothing. I'm just humming stuff… wondering how many people these two have murdered and eaten… The usual."

"You are sick."

"Not sick. Just curious." Said White Rabbit. "Have you ever travelled abroad? Gone to different countries?"

"To different parts of Europe." Muttered Arthur. "Germany, Netherlands, Italy, France, Spain and a few others … What about yourself?" He looked over to the White Rabbit and gritted his teeth in frustration. He was gone.

'_Wonderful…_' Thought Arthur bitterly. '_Just bloody wonderful. Looks like White Rabbit has taken the place of that damn Frenchman._' Deciding that nothing could be done about it, Arthur continued to walk down the halls, listening out for any signs of Elizaveta.

After a while he came across a door that didn't fit with the décor of the house. It was pastel blue with bloodied hand prints all over it. It looked like it would conceal a child's room. The door was slightly ajar, giving the Brit the opportunity to look inside.

Arthur peeked inside to see if he could spot the deranged woman. Elizaveta was standing in the middle of the room, rocking her baby in her arms. She looked so happy just to have her child. "My baby, may baby, my baby… My precious little one." She cooed softly. "So quiet today. Such a good baby… Your father will be happy when get gets back from getting rid of that pest."

Arthur sighed sadly and carefully opened the door, sneaking up behind the woman. '_I really didn't want to do this in front of a child… But if I have no choice, than I have no choice._'

Elizaveta hummed a little and walked over to the baby's crib, placing the child inside. "Sleep now, my precious one. Have beautiful dreams about the world above…" She reached into the crib and sighed happily. "Dream of the sun… the moon… the stars… the wind blowing through your hair… and the gentle patter of rain against your alabaster skin…" She giggled a little. "Until then you'll have to settle for this bastard's blood."

She quickly turned to face Arthur, holding an iron poker used for stoking a fire. A malicious grin spread across her disturbed face as she stumbled forwards towards Arthur. "Put the weapon down, Elizaveta. You don't want to do this." Said Arthur calmly. "Not in front of your child."

"You killed him didn't you?" She growled. "I heard the music playing, but it cut out before it was over… You lured my Roderich to his death, didn't you? YOU KILLED HIM! YOU FUCKING KILLED HIM! YOU KILLED MY HUSBAND!" She shrieked. "I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD! YOU MIGHT HAVE GOTTEN RODERICH, BUT YOU WON'T KILL ME OR MY CHILD!"

She lunged at Arthur, laughing hysterically as she swung her weapon, brining it down in swift, string strokes. Arthur gulped and jumped back, only just missing the woman's attacks. He would need to be quick about this if he was going to get this done as quickly and as safely as possible.

He ducked, turned and deflected whenever possible as he tried to find an opening in her defences. '_Damn it… She's completely insane! Fuck, fuck, fuck… Shit!_' He quickly jumped back, avoiding getting his leg shattered. '_Let's see… right handed. Raises with a left arc… I have to attack the right side when she's raising her arm._' It was a small window. No more than maybe half a second.

That was more than enough time for Arthur. As Elizaveta raised her weapon ready to strike Arthur again, he ran forwards. His knife easily ran through the woman's right side, Gliding through fat, muscle, bone and organs as if they weren't even there. Too end the poor woman's suffering, Arthur stabbed her in the back, piercing her heart. Elizaveta fell to the ground dead.

Arthur stood there, panting a little as he watched the blood flow out of her wounds. He shivered and turned to the crib. He needed to get the child out of here. He started to make his way towards the crib when White Rabbit appeared again. "So I guess you took care of her then?"

"Where the bloody hell have you been?" Snapped Arthur. "I was almost killed!"

"But you weren't." Said White Rabbit. "That's the main thing."

"I guess…" Muttered Arthur.

"Baby…" Wheezed Elizaveta. "My… baby…"

Arthur almost had a heart attack. '_She's still alive? I thought I killed her! She's bleeding out enough to be dead anyway!_'

"My… my baby…" Spluttered Elizaveta as she slowly dragged herself towards the crib. "Don't… hurt… my baby… my baby… my baby… my baby… He needs his mother… my baby… my-" He words were cut short when White Rabbit beat her in the head with an iron poker she had dropped earlier.

"Well… That was easily done." He muttered. He pulled the poker out of her skull and let her head roll limply on the floor. "Want to check on the baby?"

"In a second." Muttered Arthur. He quickly pulled the key part off the dead woman's body and joined it with the handle. Once that was done he walked over to the crib. He was surprised that the child hadn't made a noise since they had entered.

"Hey, she had Delta A-404 on her wrist." Muttered White Rabbit.

"Is that so?" Muttered Arthur. He looked into the crib to see a bundle of red cloth. Frowning a little he pulled back the cloth to see the babies face. A dead piglet looked back at him with cold, dead, rotting eyes. "… She never had a baby."

"Of course." Said White Rabbit. He walked over to Arthur to have a look at the so called baby. "Liz couldn't have kids… she never said why though. Always wanted children, never could have any… I guess she finally went off the deep end when she got CJD, huh?"

"Yeah…" Muttered Arthur. This was horrible. If these two had CJD, how many more people had it? Was the whole place cut off because of an outbreak of CJD? That thought worried him. What of Toris and Feliks had CJD too? It was a strong possibility and something he really didn't want to think about. "We should leave…"

White Rabbit nodded in agreement and turned to leave. "Yeah… This place has nothing I'm interested in anyway. See you around sometime… Oh and Arthur, the next time I see you be warned, my intentions will not be to help you in the slightest. With that he turned and left.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

It didn't take Arthur long to get back to Dodo's Toy Emporium. Feliks, Toris, Alfred and Francis were sitting around, cleaning wounds and swapping stories. "Like, so good to see you again." Said Feliks. "How did it go?"

"The Duke and Dutches both had CJD… human mad cow disease. They had no control over their actions…" Muttered Arthur. "But I do have the key to talk to get into see the leader of the Chess territory. So it's something."

Alfred grinned. "Awesome. So I guess we're going to go and see him now, right?"

"Right… Maybe then we can get some answers…" Muttered Arthur. This whole thing seemed like a bad dream to him now.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Well… yeah I would appreciate it if a few more people actually dropped a review in from time to time… that would be nice… makes me feel like people actually appreciate the effort I put into my work and stuff… just saying… Please review.


	15. Bloody Trap Land

**Shinigami-cat: **Sorry for the late update. I've had a lot of trouble figuring out the next part for this. Also, I've had exams and have been feeling a little down lately. I hope you all like this chapter. They lyrics used are Ready To Die by Andrew WK… I OWN NOTHING!

**Bloody Trap Land**

It didn't take long for Francis, Arthur and Alfred to reach the factory where the leader of the chess supposedly lived. The front garden of this place was filled with copper daffodils scattered around in an erratic and unplanned fashion. The heavy iron door to this place was covered in blood splatter and hand prints.

"… Do you think Toris and Feliks will be okay?" Asked Francis.

Alfred nodded. "Yeah, I gave them some money so they should be able to pay for their way across the lake to the other side."

Arthur frowned a little, remembering Alfred's plan; Toris and Feliks would head to the docks where a body of water connected the chess and hearts territory. There apparently the people that ran a fishing and carpentry industry were still alive and well. They would pay for safe passage to heart's territory while he, Francis and Arthur would scope out the Chess leader's factory.

According to the thief, the man that ran this place also lived here in a section closer to the top. Apparently the front part of this place was like a museum and showcased the beauty and history of Under London while everything else, apart from the top floor was all working factory.

"I haven't been here in years…" Muttered Alfred with a fond smile. "I remember this was one of the first places I went to. I came here, saw all the exhibits and went to live in Heart's territory. Best decision I ever made."

"You don't make many decisions then, do you?" Asked Francis.

Alfred glared at him. "Oh shut up gasmask face! You can't say living here wasn't one of the best decisions you made!"

"It was never my first choice to live in this dive!" Snapped Francis. "I would much rather live back in my homeland than this abysmal dump! This was the only place where people wouldn't take a second look at me!"

"Well you still look like a freak to me so your plan has once again failed." Said Alfred with a smirk.

"You're both bloody insane wankers." Snapped Arthur. "So shut the fuck up already. You're both as bad as each other." The pair didn't pay the Brit any attention and so they continued to argue. Arthur just rolled his eyes and went to open the door with the key.

An audible click was heard, signalling that the door was indeed opened. He pushed the doors open and walked inside, leaving the two bickering morons outside.

The front of this place looked like the foyer of a posh, yet welcoming, hotel lobby. The only disconcerting thing about this place was the copious amounts of blood, both dray and relatively fresh, that generously painted parts of the floor and walls.

It made Arthur shiver. '_Damn it… What the bloody hell am I getting myself into? The agency doesn't pay me enough for this crap._'

For his own sanity he decided against paying too much attention to the macabre display of blood and instead focused on the blood free paintings and displays scattered around the entrance. There wasn't really much to see. Just a few pictures and paintings about how the place came to be. The only models or displays in the place were steam droids and a small map of the whole of Under London.

The Brit sighed a little as he looked over the map. There wasn't much of anything important to note, at least not for Arthur at that moment. He tapped his fingers against the display case, wondering more about the girl he had to save.

'_I got nothing from that first place… I'm sure to get next to nothing here too, but I have to try… Her life depends on me._' A frown made its way onto his face. '_Is she even in this place? She could have been moved out of here and to some other location…_'

He was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard something heavy falling to the floor. He quickly turned to see Alfred holding an old Steam Droid arm. "… Oops."

Francis rolled his eyes. "What possessed you to do such an inappropriate thing?"

"Dude, I just wanted to see how well the arm was attached!" Whined Alfred. "I've wondered that for years! Now I know… It's crap."

"Put it back or put it down." Said Arthur, slightly annoyed that the pair hadn't stopped their bickering. He looked back at the glass case and frowned. This case was too odd, even for him. He just wanted it to be over already.

He could have brooded on his unfortunate circumstances a little longer, if not for the sudden sound of something brittle snapping caught his attention. He turned around just in time to see some kind of secret passage in the wall opening up and turning, sweeping Alfred and Francis inside.

Arthur gasped in shock and ran over to the wall, looking for some kind of leaver or button or pressure point. Anything to open up the wall again. "Damn it! Are you two okay? Can you get back? Can you hear me?"

They both knocked on the wall. "It's okay… there's just some kind of secret passageway back here." Said Francis. "… Looks like no one has used this for years. It's all dusty."

"Dude, we'll be fine. We'll get out of her soon." Said Alfred. "You'll have to keep going by yourself. Watch for traps."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Francis looked around the unused passage and sighed a little. He did not expect this to happen. Today could not have gone worse for him. "This place…" Cobwebs and dust was thick in this passageway. It irritated his eyes a little.

Alfred on the other hand was humming happily. "Oh well, it's just a bit of a pain isn't it? Oh well, there has to be a way out of here, right?"

"Whatever." Muttered Francis.

The younger blond just laughed at Francis. "Oh come on. Life is too short for all this crap. Give us a smile." To emphasize the point he grinned at the other. "Come on, take off that gas mask and give a big old smile."

Francis rolled his eyes and started to walk down the passageway. "I don't smile. Not anymore."

"Aw…" Whined Alfred. "I wanted to see that famous Glasgow smile you've got."

That stopped Francis dead in his tracks, clenching his fists. "Glasgow smile? You think a Glasgow smile is funny? How the heck do you even know about that anyway?"

Alfred laughed as quickly walked past Francis. A stupid grin was plastered to his face. "It's obvious dude. Why else would you wear a gasmask? So go on. Take it off and show me that perfect grin."

The Frenchman rolled his eyes and walked right past Alfred, pushing him against the wall. "It's not something someone like you should make fun of… Especially someone with your own issues that are far worse than mine."

Alfred said nothing after that. The pair walked in silence after that. At least they did for a few minutes before Alfred started to hum to himself. It was some stupid upbeat tune that annoyed Francis to no end. The worst part was that the Frenchman knew that the other would start to sing that obnoxious song at any second.

"_This is your time to Pay,  
This is your Desperate Day.  
We made a Sacrifice,  
And now we get to take your life.  
We shoot without a Gun,  
We'll take on Anyone.  
It's really nothing new,  
It's just a thing we like to do_."

Francis sighed a little. Of course Alfred would sing some stupid about that in a place like this. The kid was creepy enough to do it. '_Damn American… I wish he would just shut up._'

"_You'd better get Ready to Die,  
Get ready to Die.  
You'd better get Ready to Kill,  
Get ready to Kill.  
You'd better get Ready to Run,  
Coz,  
Here we come.  
You'd better get Ready to Die,  
Get Ready to Die._"

"Shut up already, Alfred." Said Francis. "That song is creepy and unsettling… Just focus on trying to find some secret leaver or something that will open a door or something and get us out of here." Alfred either didn't hear Francis or just chose to ignore him because he continued to sing happily to himself.

"_Your life is over now,  
Your life is running out.  
When your time is at an End,  
Then it's time to Kill again.  
We Cut without a Knife,  
We live in Black and White.  
You're just a Parasite,  
Now close your eyes and say Good Night._"

Francis shook his head and started to run his hands over the walls, feeling for a crack in the wall or something, anything to get them out of the dust filled space.

"_You'd better get Ready to Die,  
Get ready to Die.  
You'd better get Ready to Kill,  
Get ready to Kill.  
You'd better get Ready to Run,  
Coz,  
Here we come.  
You'd better get Ready to Die,  
Get Ready to Die.  
You'd better get Ready to Die,  
Get Ready to Die,  
Get Ready to Die,  
Get Ready to Die.  
You'd better get Ready to Die,  
Get Ready to Die,  
Get Ready to Die,  
Get Ready to Die.  
You'd better get Ready to Die,  
Get Ready to Die,  
Get Ready to Die,  
Get Ready to...  
If we're not,  
Not coming,  
Then you better get Running,  
And you'd better get Ready to Die._"

The Frenchman had had enough of Alfred. "Alfred! Shut up already or I swear I will-" He never finished his threat though. He feel to his knees, his vision blurring and his hearing failing him. He fell to his side as the throbbing in the back of his head slowly started to build up. The last thing he saw before he completely lost consciousness was a man in a white rabbit mask holding a plank of wood.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Finding nothing else of interest in the front of the building, Arthur went through a door and started to walk. He had no idea where he was going or how long it would take him to get there. He just needed to find some stairs that went up and follow them.

The further he walked into the building the less likely it seemed. It was frustrating. '_Bloody hell…_' Thought Arthur as he clutched his Vorpal Blade. '_There has to be some way up… anyway…_'

He continued to walk down the hall till he found a door with a sign on it. Factory Floor. He sighed a little, at the very least he should be able to get to a control room and maybe another way out or some stairs that went upwards.

Arthur opened the factory door and stopped dead in his tracks. It was a normal looking factory with vats of molten metal and machines made for cutting and punching holes in metal sheets. Tied up and dangling over a molten vat was Alfred. He was bound in chains, squirming as an industrial hook connected him to the ceiling. Tied to a conveyer belt was Francis, bound and gagged just like Alfred was.

"What the bloody hell?"

The light in the control booth flickered on, showing the siluet of man with rabbit ears. White Rabbit. The speakers crackled on at the White Rabbit's voice broke the silence. "Hey there, Arthur. How's it hanging?"

"White Rabbit you bastard!" Yelled Arthur in frustration. "What are you doing? Why are you doing this?"

White Rabbit chuckled a little. "I can't hear you from here, but I'll assume that was angry yelling. As you can see I have caught myself a thief and a cat… Now I don't do anything without gaining something in return. I benefit from the death of both these people. The thief stole something from me and the cat knows too much."

Machines started to whirl and blink to life. Steam started to billow out the contraptions making Arthur gulp. '_What the hell?_'

"But seeing as how I'm easily entertained, how about we play a game?" Asked White Rabbit. "Name of the game is simple. Who does this British bastard save? The purebred French whore or the common gutter thief? Then again you could forget about them and try to catch me. Let them die and find out what you want."

A whistle sounded, bringing the conveyer belt and the mechanism that held Alfred in place to life. Near the end of the conveyer belt a series of large metal spikes started to hit in belt, leaving small indentations with each strike. Just imagining what that could do to a human made Arthur sick.

'_Shit… what do I do? What do I do?_' He thought desperately to himself. There had to be a way to save both of them. He quickly looked to the control booth; the metal walkway to get in via the side door was rusted through and it would take way too long to see if there was another way in to save them.

White Rabbit chuckled a little. "Come on Arthur. Can't you do it? Can't you save one person? What's wrong Arthur? It's just a little steam powered machine. Are you telling me you can't even stop it?" He sounded like he was getting more and more frustrated. "Come on… Do something! That fucking cat's going to get turned into minced meat and that thief will burn!"

"SHUT UP!" Screamed Arthur. "SHUT UP AND LET ME THINK!"

He quickly moved onto the factory floor and started to look around. He couldn't reach Francis or Alfred from there, but at least he could look at the machinery to see what he could do to stop it. He had to think quickly. '_Damn it… I can't get to the control room and… damn it! There has to be some way to stop both of these!_'

He looked over at the machine that controlled the conveyer belt, looking over at all the buttons and leavers. They only controlled the speed and the emergency stop button had been removed. Probably the work of White Rabbit.

'_Shit… This is bad… this is very bad… How the bloody hell am I mean to stop the damn things… There has to be something I can do… Anything…_'

White Rabbit chuckled. "So you chose to save the cat? I'm not surprised. Who would choose to save a thief? Especially a thief as disgusting as him… You don't know about all the horrible things he has done in the past. The deals he has made. Why save him?"

Arthur growled a little and shook his head. "Shut up! Shut up! Just shut up already! I'm going to save them both… If I bloody can…" He quickly moved away from the machine, tripping over a pipe in the ground. "Bloody steam pipe." Cursed Arthur.

Suddenly his eyes went wide with realization. All the machines here were powered by steam. All he had to do was cut the main power supply and he could stop both of them from getting killed.

He quickly followed the pipe with his eyes, finding that it was connected to several pipes that were all huddled under the control booth. If he could puncture it he could release the steam and stop the machines. He would have to be quick to get out of the way though, the last thing he needed was to be burned by the steam.

Arthur quickly approached the pipes, quickly deciding what pipes he needed to cut so he could save them. He quickly realized that it would be easier to simply cut them all as fast as he could, hopefully in one clean cut. He dug the Vorpal blade into the metal pipes and quickly dragged it across, causing a tremendous amount of steam to billow out.

In a matter of seconds the machinery controlling the conveyer belt and the chain and hook stopped dead. Arthur sighed in relief. Now the pair wouldn't die. He looked back to the control booth. The outline of the White Rabbit was gone.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

With some difficulty, Arthur managed to safely free Francis and Alfred from their death traps. Once free the pair retold their story to him. "So he just hit you both in the back of the head and tied you up?" Asked the Brit.

"Yep." Said Alfred as he rubbed the back of his aching head. "Totally surprised up… Shit… Is there some medication somewhere? My head is killing me… Are you sure it was a plank of wood? I swear it was a hammer or something…"

"I saw him use a plank of wood." Said Francis bitterly. "Why would I lie about that? What's my reason?"

Arthur quickly intervened before Alfred had a chance to make up a comeback. "Look, why don't you two just rest here for a bit? White Rabbit did a number on both of you and you aren't much use to anyone if you're injured." He sighed a little. "I'll head upstairs and find the leader of Chess and the White Rabbit… When I next see him I'll wring his bloody neck."

"Just be careful dude." Said Alfred. "You can't just nock him off as an annoyance or a pest… He wanted us dead…"

"I'll keep that in mind." Muttered Arthur. "Maybe I'll thank him too. You're both annoying."

Francis huffed. "That's just hurtful."

"Call it whatever you wish, I need to go now." He turned and left the factory floor. Hopefully those two wouldn't get into too much trouble while he was gone.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **I hope you all liked that chapter. Please review.


	16. Failed Experiments

**Shinigami-cat: **Okay people. Here's the next chapter. I hope you all like it… I OWN NOTHING!

**Failed Experiments**

Once Arthur had abandoned Francis and Alfred, he quickly found a small set of stairs leading up to a higher floor. He quickly ascended from the factory floor going up as high as they could let him go. That would be the fourth floor. The door was a little jammed, but was opened easily enough with a little force.

The corridors for the fourth floor looked odd, almost like had stepped into a hospital wing of some kind; black and white tiled floors, white walls, white ceiling, white doors. It caused his chest to tighten a little, but he wasn't sure why.

Shaking it off like he always did, he started to walk down the hallway, stepping on broken glass every now and then. It sent unwelcome chills up his spine. '_Why does this place affect me so much? There's no reason for it… I'm used to hospitals…_'

That wasn't a lie either. His earliest memories were of hospitals wards. Always being moved from one place to another, the sink on his arms and legs as scarred as his mind, or so he was told. He couldn't remember when his burns were that bad, nor could he remember the fragments of his mind that lead to that event.

Since he didn't have his medication with him anymore, fragments were starting to slowly fall into place, slowly but surely. Mary, the woman he kept yelling at, that was his sister. He knew that was who she was, even if he didn't have any real proof besides his memories.

'_Mary… I know you now…_' Thought Arthur bitterly. '_But what could have happened to you to have made me want to forget so much? What happened to our parents? Did we have other brothers and sisters? Younger or older?_'

The longer he dwelled on this the more stressed he became about his whole situation. Instead he resolved to taking a few deep breaths and putting his family matters to the back of his mind for now. He was on an important case. He had to find that girl.

"… Girl with no name, girl with no appearance as far as I know… How the bloody hell am I meant to find such a person?" He was beyond frustrated at this point. Lie just wasn't fair sometimes. He took it in his stride though, He always seemed to perform at his best when he was faced with a challenge.

He continued his walk down the hallway. He needed to find another set of stairs to find the leader of Chess. There had to be something somewhere. He passed countless doors; locked, unlocked, broken and completely gone all together.

He ended up passing by one of these normal looking doors and stopped dead in his tracks. There was nothing special about it really. Just a normal, regular, off-white door. Still, he couldn't help but feel drawn to it. The way he saw it, if it was open he would go in and see what was inside, if it was locked, he would continue on his way and forget about it.

Cautiously he put his hand on the handle and twisted it. For a split second he had hoped that the door wouldn't open, that he would be locked out and unable to look inside. Just forced by fate to keep looking for a set of stairs to get higher and higher up. The door clicked open.

Arthur frowned a little and looked the room. It reminded him of a doctor's office; small desk and chair in one corner, an examining table pressed against the other wall, a cabinet filled from top to bottom with all kinds of body parts preserved in chemicals. Although the place seemed to have been abandoned for a while due to the layer of dust on everything, Arthur was uneasy about the whole situation.

Biting back that nagging fear in the back of his mind, the Brit took a confident stride into the room and started to look through the desks and drawers, trying to find some shred of evidence about what might have taken place in the room.

His search on the top of the desk turned up a few bits of torn paper written in a similar handwriting to one he had seen before. Deciding to figure that out later he read some of the badly scrawled English on the yellow aged paper. They seemed to be notes made by a doctor, but it was impossible to tell when it was written due to the absence of a date on the page.

_Day thirty three… The cultures seem to grow better in my blood agar plates than that or normal agar. The cultures grow into it, creating spiral tunnels. It's unusual for them to do this, but I need to do more tests to make sure that everything is okay before I do any human testing._

_For my second test I taught several mice a complex maze. Once they memorized it and could easily run from one end to the other I fed them small amounts of the cultures grown. The mice forgot the way almost immediately, but before I could make them run it again they died._

_An autopsy shows that the bacteria turned the brain to a liquid mush. Only the brain. I need to keep improving these bacteria. Eventually, maybe I can finally have an effective drug that will help people suffering from Post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. If I could do that, I'd go down in history at the world's greatest scientists._

The nagging feeling that he had seen this handwriting filled his mind. He was unable to directly pinpoint where he had seen and read this handwriting before, but it had to have been recently. Everything just seemed too similar and familiar to him for some reason.

"Of course…" He muttered. "When I was at that woman's place… There were some papers about agar plates, pills and fungus… Maybe this is the earliest writings?"

It seemed likely. Perhaps the author of these writings had to move around and simply dropped his notes in another place. That seemed likely. More than likely, even. Especially if they had to move quickly. Then again, perhaps it was time to make some deductions?

Perhaps this doctor performed experiments for this underworld, crime lords? Maybe once he had completed his research he was killed off by them? He could have even been a scientist on the surface that might have been pulled into their web of crime to fund his research, and then killed when it was done? It could have even been possible that this person might have been one of the crime lords or had been suckered into their less than innocent endeavours and abandoned their science?

Arthur shook his head a little. "Stupid… Ridiculous really… They probably just stole this man's works and made a crappy version of what he was making… Might have been some kind of amphetamine for all I know…"

He sighed a little and continued to look through the desk. He found a few small bottles of clouded liquids. One red. One yellow. One labelled 404. One labelled 211. He knew those numbers from somewhere. It was just another stupid little thing he couldn't place, but he knew it was the most obvious thing in the world and would kick himself later for not remembering.

He put the bottles on the desk and continued to look through the drawers. Inside the bottom drawer, hidden under a pile or crumpled paper, broken glass and random bits of metal and tubing were two medical files. They were labelled; Subject Delta A, and Subject Delta B. '_Wait… those tattoos of those cannibal's arms… Delta A-404 and Delta B-211…_' He felt like a right idiot for not connecting the dots. He quickly looked through the files, drawing out the most important parts from both of them.

_Subject Delta A is a female, Hungarian woman. She has long brown hair and bright green eyes. She has experienced a complicated birth, resulting in a miscarriage. Consequently, she's unable to have any more children or risk internal injury. She has volunteered for the treatment along with subject Delta B, but more on him later. Delta A has responded well to small amounts of drug 404._

_Subject Delta B is a male, Austrian man. He has short brown hair, though his eye colour does change a little from a light brown to a slightly violet colour. He was involved in a rather unfortunate accident, resulting in a mild trauma. Delta B has rejected 404, but has responded well to drug 211._

_Delta A and B have interacted with each other and were given questions to ask each other while being monitored. A asked B a series of questions, slipping in trigger words every now and then to see if we can provoke a panic attack. In turn, B asked A similar questions with words and phrases that would trigger her own panic attack._

_Afterwards the pair were split up and were asked more questions to understand how they felt and if a reaction was provoked. The test subjects were mildly stressed about their situation, but were unsure why. An increase of 404 and 211 will be needed to wipe out those parts of their memories._

_The Doctor overseeing over these experiments is Dr. Gilbert Beilschmidt._

"Does that mean that those two were experiments?" Asked Arthur to the empty room. "Could it… could it be possible that… that the medication they were given gave them symptoms similar to CJD?" Everything was falling into place within Arthur's mind. "Then that means… That means Gilbert, that bastard that got mercury poisoning! He must have… no… Yes… No he couldn't have… But he did… But how? Why?"

"All in the name of science, my friend."

Arthur quickly turned around at breakneck speed, almost giving himself whiplash. Standing in the door frame was none other than White Rabbit. Who else could it be or would it be? The beast seemed like he would stalk Arthur for the rest of his life, like a foreboding Spector, an unwelcome monster that lazily sung an axe over his head.

"All in the name of science…" Repeated White Rabbit. "What's two lives in exchange for hundreds, millions of others? We will never remember their sacrifice, but who gives a shit?"

The Brit glared at What Rabbit and pointed his vorpal blade at him. "Stay the hell away from me."

"Oh come on…" Whined White Rabbit. "You can't still be pissed off about trying to snuff out that cat and that thief, are you? Everything I do, I do for a reason."

"I'm tired of you being so damn cryptic." Snapped Arthur. "Tell me what they did that made you want to kill them."

White Rabbit chuckled a little. "Let's see… That cat knows things he shouldn't… He knows too much about me, even if he's in a slightly odd direction. I'll kill him eventually…" He shook his head and sighed. "As for that thief, he stole from me. Since he stole from me I want compensation. A life for a life if you would. I want what he took from me in equal or greater value. That's all."

Arthur wanted to ask what that precisely Alfred had stolen from, but decided against it. "Right… Well since you seem to know so much tell me what you know about those cannibals and Gilbert."

White Rabbit seemed to ponder this for moment before answering. "Yes… Gilbert was a scientist, third generation going back to his great grandfather. All of them were trying to create something to wipe the mind. Eliminate trauma. A good idea in theory and whatnot… Too bad no one had the time of day to even consider funding them and so here it ends… The Beilschmidt dream, lost below London for all eternity… but not his work."

"Yes, yes, yes, that's all tragic and everything, but those cannibals. What about them?"

Even though What Rabbit was wearing a mask, Arthur could tell he was smirking at him. "Test subjects. The first human trials. Elizaveta's baby died and so she wanted to forget the reason why she can never have children. Naturally when she regressed she became obsessed with her child. A dead piglet wrapped in cloth. A mother will do anything to protect her child, even if it isn't real."

Now there was something Arthur could not argue. Mothers would always protect their child. They were the most important thing in the world to them. Even amongst the animal kingdom the mothers would give their all for their young. That being said it was no real shock that Elizaveta defended her fake young with an almost feverish intent.

"Now as for Roderich, his mother was stabbed to death by his father when he was just a boy. He was playing the piano at the time and heard her scream. No surprise that when he lost his mind he found beauty in the screams of his victims."

From that, Arthur could piece together enough for him to make a possibly linear timeline of events. It was possible that Gilbert continued his family's research. After some time he was able to get human trials done and used Roderich and Elizaveta. Once the research went south, they were abandoned down here and Gilbert was poisoned soon after. Now all he had to figure out was how Gilbert was connected with the crime lords of London and he would be all set.

"How does Gilbert connect to the underworld?" Asked Arthur. "He doesn't seem like the kind of bloke that would do something so stupid."

White Rabbit shrugged. "That's the big question. Who is the mastermind behind everything and is it all connected somehow? If it is, then it's wonderful. If not, then who cares? Certainly not me."

"Because you gain nothing from it?" Snapped Arthur. "Why should I believe a thing you said anyway? You could have lied to me! For all I know this is just some stupid shit you made up just so you could manipulate me!"

White Rabbit chuckled and slowly walked away from the doorway. "Biggest thing I've done to you to date is give you a choice between the thief and the cat. You saved them both. Good for you. I myself have other things I need to do rather than to talk about a mad mans failed experiments… Later." He quickly turned to leave, but Arthur wanted to know one more thing.

"Wait!" Cried the Brit. "Just give me one more thing! Just one more thing! What is her name! What's the name of that girl that you kidnapped! What is her name! Answer me!"

This caused the masked man to pause and ponder his answer. "What to say…? What to tell…? It's so hard to decide… So many faces and names pass me by each day. If they aren't important they just seem to slip my mind. Can't be helped. She wasn't important enough to me."

Arthur growled and cautiously crossed the room, getting closer and closer to the mad man. "Not important enough? How could a child not be important enough to you? Wasn't there enough money on her damned head for you to take notice of her?"

"Why do you take notice of her?" Asked White Rabbit. "Isn't it the same thing? You didn't know of her until a few hours ago and now… You don't even know her name or what she looks like. She's just another pay check to you! Thant's all humans are! Pay checks!" Yelled White Rabbit. "Everyone is always looking out for themselves! It's the only way we can survive! Unless you get payed to look for someone you don't do shit! I know your kind! You're just a finder! You're just like a fucking bloodhound!"

"How dare you even suggest that-?"

"I'M NOT FINISHED!" Screamed White Rabbit. He was so enraged that he was shaking and twitching. "And just like a bloodhound, when you are old, lame and unable to find anything anymore you will be put down! You know why? Because you are just an experiment! Everyone is some way or another! Some know the truth and escape while others… others are forever stuck in their damned little worlds with their damn little lives! You're not living. You're just a damn experiment!"

'_Shit…_' Thought Arthur. '_He's really flipped his lid now. What the hell can I do to calm this freak down?_'

After his rant, White Rabbit took a few moments to calm himself a little, taking deep breaths. "… Sorry, that was unusually violent of me it seems. I do get unusually worked up from time to time… But I must be leaving now… So little to do, so much time… Wait… reverse that. Either way I must go."

Arthur growled and grabbed hold of White Rabbit's arm, pointing his vorpal blade right at his throat. "Her name." He hissed. "What is her name? Tell me or I'll slit your damn throat!"

White Rabbit shrugged a little and casually pushed the blade away from his neck. "Her name? I already told you I don't remember."

"That's a lie." Muttered Arthur. "You know her name. You know what she looks like and you know who wanted her and for what reasons. Tell me the truth! What is her name?"

"… Her name is Alice and that's all you're getting from me for now." Said White Rabbit. He quickly pushed the blade away even further, grabbed Arthur by his shoulders and kneed him in the chest, winding him. With Arthur winded, White Rabbit pushed him back into the room and quickly ran off, leaving Arthur to recover from his assault.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Okay so that was that. Please review.


	17. Cats and Rabbits

**Shinigami-cat: **Oka, sorry for the long wait for this chapter. It's just hard to write chapters for this story sometimes. The poem used is the Cheshire cat by James S Newcomb Lang… I OWN NOTHING!

**Cats and Rabbits**

The sweet smell of fresh cat grass carried by the calming wind woke him from his slumber. A small boy, only six, all wide eyed and curious about the world around him. The simplest things brought pleasure to the child; a smile, the babbling brook, the birds singing or even just watching the small woodland animals scurrying around the tall grass.

He sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He would need to head home soon or he was sure to get a scolding from his father. Quickly standing he started to make his way home.

As the boy walked along he happened to spy a small cotton tail bobbing up and down in the grass. He grinned and got as close to the rabbit as possible without scaring it and copped its hopping action. Moving when it moved and stopping when it stopped.

"Hippity-hop." Sang the child. "Hippity-hop. Hippity-hop. Rabbit down the rabbit trail. Hippity-hop. Hippity-hop. One, two, three. Hippity-hop."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Blinking a little, White Rabbit pulled himself out of his sleep. There was no sweet scent of grass or the calming breeze. Those things were replaced with the thick stench of blood, rust and stale air. He had collapsed on top of a bloodstained hospital bed, perfect place for a nap.

"… More tired than tired… more exhausted than exhausted…" He muttered as he slowly sat up.

Slowly the events leading up to his collapse began to come back to him, if only in small increments. His thoughts made him giggle and made him feel a little bit giddy too. He had given Arthur much more information than he thought he would, but that made everything that much more fun.

"Oh Arthur…" He cooed. "Oh Arthur, Arthur, Arthur… The things you will learn and the places you will see…" He giggled again and got off the bed. He then proceeded to climb into the nearby vent and started to crawl through the metal maze.

He wanted to watch Arthur struggle over every little detail. He wanted to watch Arthur get frustrated. He wanted to see Arthur get crushed under the weight of his own ignorance. It would be beautiful. He loved it. Arthur couldn't have gotten too far ahead of him. There was no way.

After a few minutes of crawling he spotted someone through the vent, thought it wasn't who he was after. It was that damn Frenchman. Not as fun as Arthur, but still fun to play with. It wasn't often that a rabbit could bat around a cat.

The Frenchman didn't even know he was there. The stupid blond was walking along the hallway, looking rather lost. This made White Rabbit laugh. "What's this? The fat tabby cat is lost? Flea bitten bastard! You should have fucking died!"

Francis jumped in surprise and quickly looked around. "What the hell? Come out and face me!" He snapped.

"Why should I?" Growled White Rabbit. "You're quite quick on your feet. You'd run away the second you saw me… Going to find the wayward rose? What will you find; a spotless York or a bloody Lancaster!"

Francis' eyes darted around the hallway as he slowly moved to grab a broken chair leg that littered the hallway. "What have you done to Arthur? What have you done?"

White Rabbit was grinning from ear to ear. He was lapping up the Frenchman's fear like a fish and living every second of it. "But where is the thief? I thought the cat and the thief would have been together. Would have made laying you both to rest so much easier…"

"… We split up." Said the Frenchman slowly. "We decided it was best to split up… Make it harder for a psycho like you to kill us all…"

White Rabbit grinned, his eyes gleaming with psychotic intent. "I'm going to hang you upside down and saw your fucking body in half with a rusty saw. I'd love to hear a freak like you scream your fucking lungs out before I even managed to hack through your fucking pelvis."

He watched Francis shake at his words. Just his words. If someone could feel faint just from hearing something and not even experiencing such pain they were pathetic in White Rabbit's eyes. He wanted to scare the Frenchman so much that he would wet himself and have to live with that shame, not matter how long or short it was.

"You can tell a Cheshire Cat  
By the size of his grin  
You cannot help but love him  
Even though he wants to sin  
For he has the kind of smile  
That says, come on and play  
And when he starts to purr  
He can take your breath away  
When he nuzzles with his nose  
Then licks you with his tongue  
Even though you know you should  
You cannot turn and run  
Because his eyes they are hypnotic  
They put you in a trance  
Sometimes he makes you want to sleep  
He can even make you dance  
You never know what next he'll do  
Unpredictable is his name  
However you'll always enjoy yourself  
When you play the Cheshire game…"

"Shut up already!" Yelled Francis. "I'm tired of your pathetic mind games! Why aren't you facing me? Are you a coward?"

"Why would you call me a coward?" Snapped White Rabbit. "You hide your face behind a mask! Take it off! Show the world your pretty smile you vain bastard!"

"You too hide behind a mask!" Yelled Francis. "You use the guise of a rabbit to hide your true face, how are you any different from me?"

White Rabbit smirked a little. Francis was moving closer and closer to the vent opening he was hiding in. "I don't do hide my face because of vanity. I hide it because it's fun to watch you squirm…" As soon as Francis was under the vent, White Rabbit quickly burst out of it, slamming Francis against the floor. "Surprise."

Francis squirmed under the White Rabbit, trying desperately to get free. "LET ME GO!" He screamed. "LET ME GO! ARTHUR! HELP ME!"

White Rabbit chuckled. "He's too far gone to hear you now…"

The Frenchman's already pale face when almost ghostly white in horror. "You killed him? You murderer…"

"There's blood on my hands, like the blood in you…" Murmured the masked man. "I can hear it singing so sweetly out to me… I want to release it from its fleshy prison and let it dance freely to its sweet song… Don't you want to let it go freely too?" He could see the fear practically seeping out of the blonds pours. It sent a shiver of excitement up the White Rabbit's spine.

"You'll regret killing me." Said Francis.

"How so?" Hissed White Rabbit.

"I-I can offer you something valuable." Said Francis quickly.

This peeked White Rabbit's interest, but only for a second. "Pathetic. You're just grovelling now aren't you? Trying to make me spare your miserable life when you know you have nothing to offer me!" He was brimming with anger now. "I hate your kind the most. I fucking hate your kind so damn much!"

"YOU IDIOT!" Screamed Francis. "WE ARE ON THE SAME DAMN SIDE!"

White Rabbit paused for a second. "Huh?"

Francis sighed a little, looking much more calm than he did before. "We are on the same side. We found each other and made an agreement. Don't you remember? Well, obviously you don't because we are here right now!"

White Rabbit thought very hard about what Francis had just told him. "Oh… Right… Oops…"

"Oops?" Growled Francis. "You almost kill me and all you can say is Oops?"

"Hey, it could have been a lot worse." Said White Rabbit as he released Francis and stood up. "I could have slit your throat before I remembered and hey, my mind is all over the place. You can't get mad at me for temporary insanity."

The Frenchman rolled his eyes and stood up, dusting himself off. "Right… I assume you interacted with Arthur quite recently?"

"Yep." Said White Rabbit proudly. "I gave him a name."

"What name?"

"The name."

"What is the name?"

"Need to know."

"Need to know?"

"As in it's on a need to know basis."

"Well I need to know."

"Do you really?"

"Oui!"

"You sure?"

"Of course I'm sure!" Snapped Francis. "Tell me what name you gave him!"

White Rabbit smirked. "I simply told him his name. He was foolish enough to follow the rabbit down the rabbit hole after all and came to this dystopian wonderland."

"Oh, so you gave him that girl's name, Alice." Francis seemed relieved to hear that.

This made Rabbit pout. He didn't want Francis to be relieved in anyway. He still wanted him on edge at all times. "Why? What was the name to you? What name should I have given? I thought Alice was right. Did I get it wrong?"

"No, you got it perfectly right." Said Francis happily. "Did you give him a description of the girl?"

"No point." Muttered the other. "His own delusional mind will probably come up with a picture of the girl in question, thought it might or might not be obscure… Then again what do we care? Dead men tell no tails."

Francis nodded in agreement. "Quite… Do you know if Arthur has managed to obtain anymore medication for himself?"

This made White Rabbit giggle gleefully. "Nope and every time I see him he seems to be getting more and more loopy and around the bend." He loved and cherished that demented look in that young man's eyes every time their paths crossed. It made him feel all giddy and nauseous, the good kind, and it made his heart race in his chest cavity, reminding him he still had a pulse.

If he didn't know any better he would have assumed it was love. That notion was quickly squashed though when he remembered that he felt the same euphoric feeling while gutting people alive and torturing them. That he knew for sure wasn't love. That was sadism, plain and simple.

"I see…"

"Is that bad too?" He enquired.

Francis thought for a moment before shaking his head. "No… Just keep an eye on him or something… I'll be doing the same… The closer and closer he gets to insanity the closer and closer we will all get for finding closure…"

"Indeed…" Muttered White Rabbit. He turned and started to walk away. "I'll keep an eye on him and you keep an eye on that thief for me, cat. That thief needs a damn good thrashing if he sticks his nose where it doesn't belong."

"… Right."

As White Rabbit walked away he started to hum a little, quickly turning his whimsical humming into a little song. "Hippity-hop. Hippity-hop. Hippity-hop. Rabbit down the rabbit trail. Hippity-hop. Hippity-hop. One, two, three. Hippity-hop. He'll die, you'll see. Rabbit stew for tea…"

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Sorry for it being a shorter chapter. I just honestly have a lot of trouble coming up with ideas for this. I would be grateful if you would tell me what you think will happen in later chapters and stuff because it will help me. Please review.


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